Cityscape USA is pleased to announce a growing roster of influential speakers and exhibitors for its premiere real estate event in the United States. New exhibitors include Toll Brothers, USA, NCC Urban, India, Aldar Properties, UAE, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and the Panamanian Ministry of Economics and Finance, Panama. Cityscape USA is an unprecedented opportunity for real estate industry professionals to network with some of the biggest names in the business, with an emphasis on market leaders from the emerging world.

The three-day conference and two-day networking exhibition will showcase investment opportunities in emerging real estate markets including Asia, The Middle East and Latin America. It has attracted top American and international market leaders, architects, designers and consultants in the real estate industry.

“With the globalization of real estate, interest in US and emerging markets development has grown exponentially. Cityscape promises to be the catalyst for leaders from these global sectors to network and learn about new investment opportunities,” says Harvey Green, President, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. Green is moderating the opening keynote presentation on September 11th on “Where the US real estate market is heading”. Top market leaders — including Robert Bach, Senior Vice President & Chief Economist, Grubb & Ellis Co., will join him on the panel.

Participants include NCC Urban, which is a subsidiary of Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd and a development leader in emerging markets. NCC Urban projects range from residential and commercial complexes, townships, special economic zones (SEZs) and serviced apartment complexes. On the governmental side, The Panamanian Ministry of Economics and Finance (MEF) will be in attendance. MEF is charged with handling all state-owned property in Panama and has many large-scale projects planned, including expansion of the Panama Canal. A U.S. participant, Toll Brothers, is an award-winning builder of luxury communities with a focus on preserving natural environments.

Cityscape USA has attracted support from major industry firms including investment sponsor, Dubai-based Nakheel; platinum sponsor, US-based CityCenter; as well as silver sponsors US-based ING Real Estate, Savannah, and Capri Capital Partners.

For more information please visit: http://www.cityscape-usa.com

Ritz Carlton, Washington DC

Short sales occur in all neighborhoods. You can find them for under $100,000 to well over $5,000,000. Even the famous Ritz Carlton in Washington DC has experienced short sales. Homes from Bethesda MD, Potomac MD and high end communities throughout the Washington DC Metro area are experiencing short sales and foreclosures.

In today’s tough market ordinary homeowners are finding themselves stuck with ballooning and unaffordable mortgages. Facing a buyer’s market and an upside down mortgage, many homeowners turn to short sales, even in the luxury real estate market.

A short sale (pre-foreclosure) is a real estate transaction that nets less than the amount of debt owed on a property. In other words, an owner sells his/her home for less than the mortgage they owe on it.

Why would someone consider a short sale?

1.    Will or have already fallen behind on mortgage payments
2.    They are facing foreclosure.
3.    Divorce or death of a spouse.
4.    Sudden disability
5.    Immediate and pressing need to relocate.

Marc Cormier, a Realtor with The Tania Ivey Real Estate Team and owner of www.help34.com closes more short sales in an average month than most realtors have done in their entire career. Mr. Cormier closed 3 short sales in a 2 week period in June 2008 alone, . Cormier offers the following advice for those considering a short sale. More on Luxury Real Estate seeing short sales and foreclosures in Washington D.C.

Donald Trump Jr.

Late last November, Donald Trump Jr. – the son of the brash American real estate tycoon and reality-TV star – appeared at the high-profile Cityscape India 2007 real estate conference in Mumbai to give a speech on the subcontinent’s booming property market.

Trump, the executive vice president of development and acquisitions at New York-based Trump Organization USA LLC, said India’s red-hot economy has fueled demand for more residential development, particularly luxury housing, but also hotels and resorts for the country’s flourishing tourism industry.

Before he departed, Trump indicated his desire to invest in India’s real estate sector, and hinted that he wouldn’t wait long to do so. “We feel it is now time to invest in Indian realty projects as the quality has moved up and we see emergence of some high-end developers with a product level that will support our brand,” he said in his speech.

It appears that time is now: Trump announced in late July that he intends to set up a hedge fund worth up to $1 billion to invest in Indian real estate.

Accordingly, the privately held fund would initially target property in Mumbai and also include an Indian family as investors. Thirty year-old Trump did not give specific details about the fund, such as how he plans to raise the money, or where the first investment would be made. But in an interview with New York-based media company Bloomberg LP, he did say that it would start conservatively and expand as the opportunities presented themselves.

“The fund will be for acquisitions of real estate in the high end and across the spectrum,” Trump said. “We’ll start it off relatively small and grow it as we get more familiar with the Indian market. Our entry has to be in Mumbai, and that’s where everything is going on right now in terms of the high-end real estate. That’s the place where one is going to achieve the highest prices per square foot. It sets the tone for all of the other future developments.” More on Luxury Real Estate in India - Donald Trump Junior Shows Faith

AFFLUENT HOMEOWNERS FOCUS ON LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION ACCORDING TO THE 2008 COLDWELL BANKER PREVIEWS INTERNATIONAL® LUXURY SURVEY

Top of the list of desires is a Private Island location with being near a beach being more than double in demand than any other location for a second home. High-End Homeowners Still Aspire for a Dream Home; 17 Percent Have Considered Moving to Obtain a Specific Zip Code and 85 Percent Expect Home Prices to Increase Over Next Five Years.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (July 24, 2008) – Homeowners at the highest end of the real estate market still have a dream house in mind and zip code does play a factor in where some call home, according to the 2008 Coldwell Banker Previews International® Luxury Survey. Top locations for a dream home among those surveyed were on an island (27 percent) or in a rural country setting (22 percent), followed by the suburbs (18 percent) or an international destination (18 percent). Additionally, 17 percent of those surveyed confirmed that they have considered moving expressly to obtain a specific address or zip code. Eight percent of respondents actually admitted to having been influenced to purchase a property to “keep up” with friends or family. More on Coldwell Banker International Luxury Survey - Location is All Important

The New York Times and LinkedIn Form Strategic Relationship

NEW YORK & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 22, 2008–NYTimes.com and LinkedIn announced today a strategic relationship that will give LinkedIn members a more focused and personalized experience on the Business and Technology pages of NYTimes.com. This relationship pairs two strong online brands that share a professional and engaged audience.

Under the terms of the agreement, LinkedIn users will now have news relevant to their professional industries recommended to them on the Business and Technology pages of NYTimes.com. A targeted headline feature will highlight the five latest Times articles for LinkedIn members based on their non-personally identifiable attributes. For example, LinkedIn members who work in the energy sector will have the option to receive relevant, targeted Times stories that cover the energy business.
Times readers will also be able to share and discuss stories with LinkedIn members in their networks. This feature will be incorporated into the share tool on all article pages of NYTimes.com.

“Working with LinkedIn, we have created a program that will provide readers of our Business and Technology sections with a more relevant and customized experience,” said Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager, NYTimes.com. “This relationship will further our engagement with our large audience of professionals, executive decision makers and small-business employees.”
“This relationship is one of the many steps LinkedIn has taken to provide its network of members with all the information they need to stay ahead in their careers,” said Patrick Crane, vice president of marketing for LinkedIn. “With the LinkedIn-NYTimes.com integration, not only will our users be able to get the news, they will now see the news that is professionally relevant to them.”

Through this relationship, advertisers will be able to extend their targeting capabilities to more Times readers than currently available through the NYTimes.com registration process. Readers will have even better access to useful news and information, while advertisers will have a greater opportunity to speak more directly to important audiences.

“Both NYTimes.com and LinkedIn are leaders in targeting. This relationship expands NYTimes.com’s targeting capability and creates a powerful incentive for advertisers to leverage LinkedIn’s and NYTimes.com’s combined reach of the business community,” said Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer, The New York Times Media Group. “Advertisers are constantly looking for context, content and quality brands and this approach delivers just that.”

This agreement upholds both companies’ commitment to protecting their members’ registration data. The non-personally identifiable data available to NYTimes.com from LinkedIn includes industry, job function, seniority, company size, gender and geography. Neither LinkedIn nor NYTimes.com will share any personally identifiable information. Readers will have the option to opt-out of this program. More information on this program can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/linkedin.

According to Nielsen Online, NYTimes.com had 17.7 million unique visitors in June and was the No. 1 newspaper Web site in the United States, a position it has long held.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with nearly 25 million members and growing by more than one million members every month.

More details can be viewed on the LinkedIn blog.

Screen shots of the new headline feature and the addition of LinkedIn to NYTimes.com’s share tool are available on the press image section of The New York Times.

Source - The New York Times Company

Dubai, UAE - Amlak Finance PJSC, the largest real estate financier in the Middle East, today opened the doors of Skygardens for an exclusive viewing by the media. Skygardens is the first ready to move-in high-rise residential tower located at the heart of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This spacious architectural masterpiece has been completely designed by Fendi Casa, the world renowned house of style, and the apartments will bear its double-F insignia.

Speaking during the media tour Mr. Arif Alharmi, Chief Executive Officer, Amlak Finance PJSC, said, “This is a unique address brought by Amlak to all our customers, a one of its kind ready to move in development to be completely designed by Fendi Casa. The tower consists of spacious contemporary apartments of different sizes to suit individual requirements, intertwined with exquisite gardens and plenty of open spaces.”

The residences, ranging from a studio, one, two bedrooms, duplexes and penthouses have spectacular views of Emirates Towers, The Gate and Burj Dubai. There are a total of around 500 units with five typical floor layouts. Adding to this there are five exquisite gardens, each with their own distinct character, lighting, and design.

Alharmi added, “We will soon be retailing the units in the UAE as well as international financial centers that are of strategic importance to DIFC such as London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Germany. We will offer competitive financing packages to our customers who are interested to invest in Skygardens”

The deluxe 39-floor tower, developed by Mazaya Real Estate, is the first residential building to anchor the DIFC and includes extensive landscaping with park-like environment as well as unparalleled luxury lifestyle. Skygardens is located south of the Gate and Emirates Towers, our most prestigious neighbors and moments drive from Sheikh Zayed Road and Emirates road connecting Dubai with all other emirates.

Dubai Properties announced today the sale of an entire building in its 1.6 Billion USD Bay Square development within hours of release.

If any luxury real estate agents out there are kicking themselves for not getting involved in the sale of property in Dubai, the latest news from “Dubai Properties” may be another reminder that there are still opportunities in Dubai. The building is an 8-story, mixed use building offering 11,754 sq. meters of commercial space, 2,116 sq. meters of residential space, with plans for 17 retail outlets, 53 offices, and 17 one-bedroom apartments.

The record achievement follows Dubai Properties’ successful sale of other floors and units of the same and of several other projects since Cityscape Dubai in 2007, the region’s largest regional business-to-business property investment and development event.

The remaining buildings within the five million square feet “new-age community project” (not sure what that is supposed to mean) will be listed for sale throughout 2008.

Bay Square will eventually comprise thirteen mixed use buildings, including a boutique hotel with a ‘downtown setting’ and a residential tower. The remaining eleven buildings will include mixed-use projects featuring commercial and retail space, terraced apartments and two stories of rooftop apartments.

Bay Square will also be a pedestrian-only zone,  and the development is scheduled for completion by end-2009.