Dear Alfa International Holding Corp. shareholder,
In our continuing pro-active efforts to keep investors apprised of the most relevant and timely information on Alfa and its target markets, AGORACOM is pleased to present you with this latest Industry Report.
Alfa International Holdings Corp. conducts all its real-estate development business activities through its wholly owned subsidiary, Journey of Light, Inc. (JOL) A Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) between JOL and the Sultanate of Oman was announced August 01, 2005 for the construction of a tourism and residential real-estate development project called Omagine with a presently projected construction cost of approximately U.S. $1.6 billion.
Please find below an article which was published on the AME Info website which focuses on The Middle East Finance and Economy. While this article focuses on Dubai we believe that many of the underlying economics mentioned in this article are just as pertinent to Oman. We also believe that Oman represents a better opportunity due to the early stage of the development cycle when compared to Dubai.
About AME Info
AME Info is a leading provider of online business information in and about the Middle East region under the title ``AME Info - The ultimate Middle East business resource`` (AME Info). Currently carrying some 76,068 news articles, 1,434 upcoming events as well as covering contact and activity details of 299,793 companies from 14 countries, including:
Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Regards,
AGORACOM Investor Relations
To read the entire article, please use the following link:
http://www.ameinfo.com/88782.html
Arab liquidity underpins Dubai real estate
Central London house prices have surged in 2006 while the rest of the UK property market is stagnant or falling. Some of the $300 billion-a-year in oil revenues earned by the Middle East is apparently finding its way back into Arab buying of property in Knightsbridge and Belgravia. This money is also supporting the Dubai boom.
United Arab Emirates: Wednesday, June 14 - 2006
Talk to a Central London estate agent these days and they will all tell you the same story: Russian property buyers get the headlines but Arab buyers are the real force behind a surge in property prices this year in the UK capital`s prime locations.
It is not the same story in the rest of the country: prices in southern England are weakening with asking prices down around five per cent on a year ago. Higher interest rates, energy prices and excessive house price growth have taken their toll in the UK.
The same market dynamics are at work in the Dubai real estate market. Buying by foreign nationals, and particularly GCC nationals from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, has been a major factor in explaining the continuation of the real estate boom.
High rental yields
Negative real interest rates have also worked very much in favor of promoting real estate investment activity. And high rental prices still give Dubai among the top rental yields in the world. It has been a paradise for investors so far.
However, as with all property booms the best deals were probably struck in the early days, and as time has gone on the risk-to-return ratio has changed. But with the population of Dubai continuing to grow explosively, supply is not yet an issue despite all the construction underway.
What could derail this boom? Skeptics who see cranes hanging over a city when they step off an aircraft always reckon that a big bust is brewing. But is it different this time?
Unless oil prices fall suddenly then the glorious current economics of the Middle East - with probably the highest domestic investment levels in the world supported by huge liquidity and equity - will continue. Moreover, commodity experts increasingly agree that the oil price is sustainable at much higher levels into the future.
Global Catastrophe
Only a big crash in global financial markets followed by a worldwide recession and low oil prices could upset this very bright economic outlook. The past month has seen global capital markets wobble worryingly but the GDP growth dynamic of the US remains very strong, and predictions about impending gloom have been wrong many times so far this century.
One possible scenario for Dubai property is not the big bust that the skeptics predict. Instead investor money starts to flow to alternative markets, like Abu Dhabi and Doha, and Dubai takes a breather while the market absorbs the strong supply flow of new build over the next five years.
Surely a halfway house between extreme pessimism and optimism about the Dubai property market is the most likely result, and that would still make buying rather than renting the best option for long-term residents, and support most of the developers.
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