Mint Leaf acquires commercial property for its clients for investment and owner occupation in the following locations:

• The Middle East
• Central & Eastern Europe
• UK

We have a particular focus on the Middle East. Across the Gulf Region, a number of locations are drawing increasing interest from international real estate investors and occupiers in the office, retail and leisure property sectors (including five star hotels & golf courses and mixed use schemes). The region has one of the world's highest hotel occupancy rates driven by the world's fastest growing tourism and airport sectors.

In recent years the Gulf region's property prices have rocketed and developments have sold out off-plan. The region continues to offer opportunities for outstanding investment returns in both the commercial and residential sectors.

We act on behalf of both commercial investors and private individuals looking to take advantage of this exceptional rate of capital growth; we source property for both investment and owner occupation.

We work with the leading developers in the Middle East but remain completely independent so you can be assured that we work in our clients' best interests at all times; when conducting a search we always aim to present the fullest range of options available at a given time. In circumstances where we are able to secure a fee from the developer, vendor or vendor's agent, we offset this against your search fee, and in most cases this results in our service being free.

We can source prime Middle East real estate in the following locations:

• Dubai, UAE
• Abu Dhabi, UAE
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Oman
• Bahrain
• Kuwait

DUBAI:

• Dubai is the fastest growing city in the world.
• The government has a 20 year plan of development that started in 2000. £140 billion is being spent by the Gulf Emirate financed by the success of its oil industry.
• Dubai's population is predicted to increase from its current 1.4 million to 2 million by 2010 (Source: CBRE CB Richard Ellis).
• Dubai's tourist numbers in 2006 were 8 million and this number is predicted to rise to 10 million by 2011 (Source: Euromonitor International - Travel & Tourism in the UAE Report Oct 2007).
• £2 billion is being spent on a lavish sports and residential complex in a bid to host the 2020 Olympics.
• Dubai's Al-Maktoum International Airport, to be completed in 2012, will be the largest airport in the world, twice the size of London Heathrow.
• Dubailand, a state of the art theme park will be two and a half times the size of Disney World, Florida. It is expected to have 200,000 visitors per day.
• Dubai is set to become the 4th largest financial centre in the world after London, New York and Hong Kong. It is developing as a major commercial base for Western companies conducting business in the Middle East, creating a huge level of demand from expatriate workers, attracted to Dubai by tax free earnings.
• Numerous major Blue Chip companies now have their head office based in Dubai, including Hewlett Packard, Canon, Dell, Sony, IBM and ICC. Overseas investors are showing strong interest in the Dubai Marina alongside Media City, home to Microsoft, Cisco, Reuters and CNN.
• Dubai has an extremely favourable tax environment for foreign investors - no CGT or other property related taxes other than 'Municipality Tax' of 5% on annual rent.
• The quality of new build property is now high, tenure is freehold, there is 100% foreign ownership and repatriation of profits, Fortune 500 multinational tenants and a number of developers offer guaranteed rental income for a set period of time.
• The purchase process in Dubai is very simple however, as we always advise our clients when purchasing property overseas, expert impartial legal advice should always be sought before committing to a purchase.
• Dubai is determined to have an internationally trustworthy and transparent code of practice to appeal to institutional investors. In 2007 the government introduced the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and as part of this a mandatory requirement for escrow accounts to protect the interests of investors buying off-plan, further increasing investor confidence in Dubai.
• Backed up by strong market fundamentals and on the back of economic growth initiatives, the privatisation of state owned enterprises and the development of Free Zones, positive investor sentiment in Dubai is still very much evident. Capital growth and rental growth in 2008 is predicted to rise by up to 20% for residential property (Source: JLL) and up to 30% for commercial property.
• There is a dire shortage of commercial property in Dubai. JLL stated in their Q4 2007 report that some analysts estimate there is a latent demand of 20% from existing occupiers and as much as 25% by companies not yet represented in Dubai. A current shortage of residential and commercial space has led to a surge in new supply which has created its own demand as purchasers have flocked from around the world.
• Whilst Dubai continues to produce fantastic returns, this should be tempered by the fact that the Dubai market is still at a relatively youthful stage and the sustainability of the phenomenal growth depends on the ability to absorb future stock and to match the profile of the stock to that of demand. JLL expects the impact of supply coming on-stream to occur between 2010 and 2012, when property prices may start to level out.

Now is the time to invest. Please call or email us for further details and to discuss your individual requirements.

© 2008 Mint Leaf Property Solutions Ltd
Company Registration No. 6461163
Regulated by RICS

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