Demand is reportedly high for a unique US real estate investment project still around a year away from its opening day. Tower residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, Texas are in high demand with only 34 of the 96 units still on the market.

The 23-storey regency-style tower is the second phase of high-rise residences to open within Uptown’s Ritz-Carlton neighbourhood, with phase one, directly above the hotel, already sold out. Developers Crescent said:

“Sales pace indicates buyers are encouraged by on-time construction progress and are moving to finalise purchases before possible construction-related cost increases.”

Prices range from $700,000 (£349,400) up to $8 million (£3.9 million) for the ‘ultra-luxury’ Ritz-Carlton concierge-serviced homes. According to Crescent, most Ritz-Carlton Dallas homeowners are ‘Dallasites’ of varying ages and professions, many of them aspiring to own a home designed by the renowned Robert A.M. Stern Architects.

Facilities include a huge onsite spa and a restaurant run by award-winning chef Dean Fearing. A resort-style outdoor pool also features as does a private fitness centre within the tower.

Hydra Properties has fast-tracked work on a an iconic Dubai tower as reports surfaced that it was also in new project talks with US mogul Donald Trump. The firm said it had begun excavation and piling work on the Hydra Downtown Tower scheme, featuring residential investment units and a five-star hotel.

Soon after UAE newspaper the National reported the company was in discussion with Mr Trump over a new skyscraper on Reem Island, Abu Dhabi.

According to the National, Sulaiman al Fahim, chief executive of Hydra Properties, said an agreement could be signed within a week, provided certain project naming disagreements are ironed out. Quoted by the paper, Dr Fahim said:

“Trump always insists on having the Trump name alone, but I’m insisting on having Trump next to Hydra… because I feel that Hydra is not less than Trump.”

If confirmed, the project will be Trump’s latest venture into the UAE property market following his partnership with Nakheel on Trump International Hotel and Tower, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

In a separate statement, Dr Fahim said the Hydra Downtown Tower would “redefine” the skyline of Dubai. The first 30 floors of the 45-floor project will be residential investment apartments, with the final 15 containing the hotel, all expected to be complete by 2010.

Industry experts have given a mixed reception to new UK government measures designed to prop up the country’s property market. Agents, property investors and trade bodies welcomed the housing minister’s proposals, which include a ‘rent now, buy later’ scheme for first-time buyers.

However, many called for tougher action and said the government would need to be “bolder” if it was to reinvigorate the property market.

On Wednesday the Department for Communities and Local Government unveiled the seven-point ‘action today, innovation for tomorrow’ plan. Housing minister Caroline Flint said:

“We are determined to continue to do everything possible to promote long-term stability and fairness in the housing market.”

As part of the proposals households earning less than £60,000 a year will be able to rent a new home at a discounted rate for two to three years, using the low payments to help them save for a deposit.

Other ideas include more responsibility for councils to provide land for new homes and up to 75,000 extra new houses in high-demand areas. Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgages Lenders’ Association, said the rent before buying idea was a

“sticking plaster, not a long-term cure”.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England said it welcomed some of the measures but added it was concerned the government had not properly considered the risks of a housing growth scheme in the current economic climate.

Qatar’s property investment potential looks set to soar following stats from a development sales firm. LifestyleHomes said the country is likely to need an additional 93,000 new homes by 2010 to address rising demand.

Population increases and a burgeoning economy are thought to be behind the heightened need for new homes. LifestyleHomes said the Qatari economy was emerging as a major power in the Gulf, with its average GDP growth projected to hit 12 per cent annually by 2012.

The firm said:

“Recognising the advantages of residing within a high potential economic hub, a greater number of foreign nationals are acquiring residential property developments, which will also provide them with a Qatari residence visa as per newly implemented foreign ownership laws.”

LifeStyle is known for teaming up with Sabban Property Investments to market units in its Sabban Towers development at The Pearl project in Qatar.

Encouraged by the success of the scheme, the firm is now spreading its wings to other developments as its bids to attract foreign property investors.

Qatar lies to the north of Saudi Arabia and has a population of around 930,000. Its current economic boom is being propelled by expanding production of natural gas and oil.

Lenders have come up with a plan to kick start the UK’s mortgage market and reinvigorate the property industry. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said its idea was designed to

“help the financial system help itself”.

Its scheme involves the Bank of England offering a form of secured lending using new UK residential mortgage-backed securities as collateral or covered bonds. To qualify, the securities and covered bonds would first have to be sold to investors in a public issue.

The CML said:

“This is of crucial importance, as it would ensure that the market itself is essentially delivering the solution, with the repo facility simply acting as a catalyst to restore market confidence.”

Officials have already submitted a document explaining the plans to the Crosby review of housing finance and the Treasury.

CML director general Michael Coogan said:

“If they act quickly, there is a window of opportunity here for the Government and the Bank of England to break the logjam in the housing and mortgage markets and underpin confidence in the financial system.”

Property investors looking to pick up discounted property amid America’s ongoing foreclosure phenomenon can now access online tracking data.

Foreclosure Trackers (FTI) has launched foreclosuretrackers.com featuring time sensitive data and helping to guide those ready with money to spend.

In California and Nevada, where foreclosure rates are higher than in most parts of the US, the site lists around 100,000 properties, with new information updated daily.

David Phelps, president and co-founder of the site, said:

“Many data publishing sites can take up to three weeks to post foreclosures or even post inaccurate or inflated foreclosure statistics.”

“We now provide the quickest turnaround for the posting of essential foreclosure information in the Southern California and Clark County, Nevada areas.”

Nevada currently weighs in as the US state with the highest foreclosure rate, according to RealtyTrac figures published by the Denver Business Journal.

Elsewhere, Colorado recently surged up the foreclosure charts, with filings up 23 per cent. A total of 11,630 new foreclosure filings were made in the state between January and March, up from 9,443 in the same period of 2007.

A UAE state is considering a long term residence visa scheme for property investors which exceed the current three-year permit system. The government of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is pondering the move as it bids to boost the country’s emerging real estate market, Gulf News reports.

According to the news provider, Dr Khater Massaad, chief executive of the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority, said the idea was being considered by officials but did not give a timeline.

Quoted by Gulf News, Dr Massaad said:

“The Government of Ras Al Khaimah, especially Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, is trying to facilitate longer term residence visas to property buyers.

“We are hopeful this will happen some day, which will boost foreign investment in real estate sector.”

Currently, foreign property investors are only granted a three-year renewable permit via offshore firms and developers since there is no law guaranteeing visas to outside owners.

Earlier this week RAK development firm Rakeen unveiled the Gateway project and began selling land from the plan to property investors and developers.

Based on the Emirates Road close to the new World Trade Center in RAK, the development is a huge mixed-use venture.

A property investment consultancy is reporting a “new breed” of reluctant landlord as a result of the faltering UK market. Cluttons said more and more property investors are opting to let their properties out during the current slump and were missing out on opportunities due to inexperience.

The firm said some were “unrealistic” about rents while others were unprepared for the administrative burden attached to renting homes out. Cluttons lettings specialist Lynn Hilton said:

“Many of our new landlords are not entering the lettings market by choice and they have a great deal to learn about the business.

“A number of them are missing out on opportunities to let their property by refusing to budge at all on the asking rent, instead settling for void periods, which every professional landlord knows is seriously detrimental to yields.”

Alice Blount, owner of a five-bedroom stone cottage in Wootton, Oxfordshire, has suddenly found herself facing the prospect of becoming a landlord, two months after putting her home up for sale.

She said:

“With the market being so slow, we feel we have little choice but to put our house up for let and sale, and take whichever comes first.

“We are anxious about who our future tenants might be, whether they will default on payments, upset the neighbours or fail to maintain our garden.”

However, Cluttons reports that on average properties on the market for four months without a sale are successfully being let within two weeks.

Another UAE state has reached a landmark in its own battle for a share of the region’s limelight with a key real estate development. Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) firm Rakeen unveiled the Gateway project over the weekend and began selling land from the plan to property investors and developers.

Based on the Emirates Road close to the new World Trade Centre in RAK, the development is set to be a mixed-use venture and will be one of the biggest of its kind in the state. YES Property Investment is taking on the job of marketing slices of the project’s first phase to investors.

Rakeen board member Wahid Atallah said the whole site will involve 60 million square feet of investment property, including residential towers, across five phases in total.

Rakeen said:

“We have finished the city designs and sketches with distinguished internal streets and roads taking into consideration that all towers and buildings will have magnificent views overlooking the parks and green flat areas, and convenient wide roads for all residents of the city.”

Rakeen is also building Al Marjan Island, the first man-made island project to be developed in the Emirate.

The five-island project is expected to be complete next year and is using surface fill with coarse earth material in the construction process.

A 25 per cent drop in UK house prices still can’t be “ruled out” according to an industry poll. Results of a survey by news site headlineproperty showed many journalists and experts in the sector expect prices to slide further below 2007’s record highs.

Poll participants were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the idea that UK house prices could fall by as much as 25 per cent from the levels being achieved last August. A total of 68 per cent agreed such a fall was still on the cards over the coming months.

Headlineproperty said:

“Splitting out the figures further, 75 per cent of property journalists said they believed a 25 per cent fall in prices was possible, while 59 per cent of industry professionals also agreed a fall of this magnitude could occur.”

The site also asked those who did not believe there would be a 25 per cent drop what they thought about house prices. Of this group, the average house price forecast for August this year was £182,000 and £182,000 a year later, suggesting there are some property commentators who think the market will soon flatten and begin to recover over the next 12 months.