Ajman realty buyers to get title deed

Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Arra) has launched a new initiative to boost real estate transactions in the emirate.

Under the new initiative called Taqseet (installment), the buyer and the seller will agree to a price for a completed unit, which will be paid in installments over an agreed period.

The transaction will be supervised by Arra, with the agency immediately issuing a title deed in the name of the buyer. However, the title deed will be pledged with the seller and released onve full payment is made.

Even though property sales have shot up in the emirate since May this year, Arra has come to the aid of real estate developers stuck with finished stock.

Sales registration fee under the scheme will be one per cent of the contract value. Although not disclosed whether the fee will be split equally between the buyer and seller, market sources say the fee will be paid by the buyer. The seller will be exempted from paying the fee.

“This initiative comes within the framework of our efforts and endeavor to develop procedures able to cope with the rapid changes in the market and capable of encouraging and facilitating the sale and purchase of real estate units in the emirate of Ajman,” Yafea Eid Al Faraj, Executive-Director, Arra, said.

Developers in Dubai are also offering end-user financing but these schemes do not fall under the purview of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.

According to market sources, six to seven towers have been completed and handed over this year. Although the total number of completed, but unsold units are not available, sources say one-bedroom apartment is now selling for less than Dh200,000 in some projects.

The agency’s website currently lists 159 registered projects.

In October, Arra said the sales and purchase transactions on real estate units in completed and under construction projects recorded an increase of 373 per cent during the third quarter compared to same period last year, while transactions for six months, starting May, rose by 873 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The climb has been attributed to several factors including the UAE Cabinet’s decision concerning the property visa and Arra’s role in solving real estate disputes with a total value of Dh1.4 billion.

In September, Yafea Eid Al Faraj, Executive-Director, Arra, told Emirates 24|7 that the agency was offering investors in stalled project a swap option at the current market price and was working on making the list of cancelled project public.

“We are seeing that the mentality of the investors has changed. It is not like before when they would seek a refund. They now understand that moving court is a costly process and the chances of getting back their investment is slim even if they get a favorable judgment… And so to have something is better than have nothing.”

Property prices in the emirate had fallen by 20 per cent this year compared to 2010, but prices were likely to stabilize in 2012, Al Faraj had said.

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