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Cityscape Real Estate is a Jordanian-based real estate firm specializing in the lease and sale of residential, commercial and retail properties in Amman. Cityscape's expansive portfolio offers discriminating clients the opportunity to invest in ....

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About Jordan

Amman is the capital and largest city of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010.[2] The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost 6.5 million by 2025 due to constant and rapid immigration.[3] Amman is also the administrative seat of the homonymous governorate. Amman is also ranked a Gamma global city on the World city index.

Amman was named one of the MENA's best cities according to economic, labour, environmental, and socio-cultural factors. Amman is considered one of the richest and most Western-oriented cities in the Middle East.

 

According to the 2011 Global Mastercard Index of Global Destination Cities, Amman is among the top ten cities in the entire Middle East and Africa region in terms of international visitors and international visitor spending making it an important global destination city for tourism and business. According to the index, the city alone welcomes 1.8 million visitors and makes $1.3 billion a year in international visitors' spending. Regionally, Amman is considered more prominent in global business and tourism than its counterparts in the Persian Gulf with the exceptions of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Amman receives more international tourists than Beirut as well, however it earns less income from them than the Lebanese capital.


Geography

 

Amman is situated on hilly area of north-western Jordan. The city was originally built on seven hills, but it now spans over an area of nineteen hills (each known as a Jabal, Tál, Mount or Mountain). The main areas of Amman gain their names from the hills and mountains on whose slopes they lie. The city's elevation changes from mountain to mountain. They range from 740 to 1400 m (2035–3610 feet).

 

Climate

 

Amman has several micro-climates, however it is generally accepted to have the Mediterranean climate with a semi-arid influence. It also has an influence of the continental climate because of its inland location and highland climate because of its high elevation. The city has warm to hot summers and cold winters. Amman's location and altitude has a profound effect on its climate. Spring is brief, mild and lasts a little less than a month, from April to May, with rain during the morning and the afternoons. High temperatures are around 14 °C (57 °F) and lows are a little less than 7 °C (45 °F) and several times going near 0 °C (32 °F) causing several freezes. Snow is known to fall on the city during the spring, sometimes with severe storms happening during the season.

 

Amman has moderate summers starting from mid June to mid September. Summer's high temperatures range from 25 °C (77 °F) to 30 °C(86 °F), usually with low humidity and frequent cool breezes. Most summers are rain-free with cloudless skies during the noon period and a brief shower or fog during the night-time. The summer's pleasant temperatures can be disturbed by heatwaves that suddenly raise the city's temperatures to around 35 °C (95 °F) and in some rare but recorded cases to as high as 41 °C (106 °F) such as during the summer of 1999. A much more common weather inconvenience is the sudden drop in temperatures, which occurs during many summer nights accompanied by moderate winds and in many cases fog. It should also be noted that throughout most of the summer, haze and smog are evident.

 

Autumn is usually mild and lasts from September to late November or mid-December. Autumn acts as a transition semester combining with either summer or winter, usually with both; it can range from being very rainy and even snowy, to arid dry. In either cases, autumn has pleasant temperatures that are between 10 °C (50 °F) and 20 °C (68 °F), 25 °C (77 °F) being the max.

 

Winter usually starts in late November or early December and continues to late April. Temperatures are usually near or below 0 °C (32 °F), with snow usually falling a few times each year. Due to its high altitude above sea level, winter in Amman is usually one of the coldest in any major city in the Levant or south-east of Europe and the surrounding countries; winters are usually foggy with at least 120 days of heavy fog per year,[7] they are also quite rainy with many rain storms occurring during the season, a few of them accompanied by moderate to severe lightning storms – after a rainy afternoon with temperatures around 4 °C (39 °F) the night temperatures fall below 0 °C (32 °F) freezing any rainwater that had accumulated.

 

Sleet is very common, and dew in the dry winter mornings is usually found frozen until 10 am. Snowy winter storms occur several times around the city. Due to the difference in elevation, snow may accumulate in the western parts of Amman (an average altitude of 1200 m above sea level) when at the same time it would be raining in the city centre (776 metre elevation). On average at least one severe snow storm every couple of years will accumulate up to 15 or 20 inches of snow (40 to 50 centimetres) in any given place.

Economy

 

Amman is a regional hub in communications, transportation, medical tourism, education, and investment. Amman is aggressively positioning itself as a hub for business, and new projects are continually transforming the city's skyline. Following the 2003 Iraq War, all business dealings with Iraq flow through Amman in some way. Its airport, Queen Alia International Airport, is the hub of the national carrier, Royal Jordanian, which is a major airline in the region.[13] The airline is headquartered in central Amman.[14] Amman is a major tourist gateway in the country because most of the country's foreign tourists arrive in Jordan through Amman. Amman is currently experiencing rapid growth in many different areas, with large growth seen in the real estate, construction, banking, finance and business sectors. Numerous skyscrapers are under construction as the city municipality recently lifted the ban of buildings taller than 4 stories and allocated designated areas for high rises.

 

Amman is already being called the business capital of the Levant. Construction projects like the Abdali Urban Regeneration Project, the Jordan Gate Towers and TAJ Mall will just solidify Amman's claim to this title. With Jordan becoming known as the gateway to Iraq and the Palestinian territories and for its free trade policies, Amman has the potential to monopolize business and trade in the Levant.

 

The Greater Amman Municipality's heavy investment in its infrastructure, such as the expansion of Queen Alia International Airport, the construction of a state of the art public transportation system, a national railway, and expansion of road works, will ease the arrival of millions of new visitors and tonnes of cargo through this soon to be regional hub. Amman's increasing importance to the reconstruction of Iraq and the developing economy of the Palestinian territories make these investments unavoidable.

 

Amman has both a modern and historic touch. East Amman is the older part of the capital where single family dwellings on the hill side and small shops and bazaars in the wadis, or valleys, dominate East Amman's layout. Old Amman is filled with souks, or bazaars, small shops, and single family dwellings all.

 

Several industrial cities are being developed near Amman, most important being Mushatta, poised at turning this once sleepy village into a global economic powerhouse.[citation needed]

 

West Amman, however, is less densely populated and more scenic. It is also the more prosperous part of Amman, with much of the city's economic activity being centered in West Amman. Most of the city's 5-star and 4-star hotels are located in West Amman. Important districts include Shmeisani and Abdali, the main economic centres of Amman, Abdoun, the up-scale residential district, and Jabal Amman, one of Amman's historic districts. A large contrast exists between the more affluent districts of West Amman and the lower class districts of East Amman.

 

Amman has a very large expatriate population, finding itself a haven for refugees seeking political asylum. Iraqis, Palestinians, Lebanese, and Armenians are among the many different expatriate populations currently residing in Amman. most guest workers are Egyptians, Syrians, and South East Asians. Many Westerners currently reside in Amman as many international organizations and diplomatic missions have regional offices in Amman.

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amman

 


REAL ESTATE SECTOR

 

The landscape of real estate in Jordan evolved transforming the face of major cities across the Kingdom. Rapid change during the five years has witnessed copious architectural structures and large development projects ranging from residential, commercial, tourism and industrial estates.

 

There are fundamental dynamics that fuelled demand for real estate in theJordanian market. First of which is the vibrant growth of the Jordanian economy shaped the market for a more diversified real estates to satisfy high income tastes and middle to low income needs. Second, Gulf countries and investors with excess liquidity resulting from rising oil revenues opted for profitable opportunities in the Jordanian market. Third, political unrest in neighbouring countries from Iraq and Lebanon led to an influx of affluent populations into Jordan who increased the demand for housing and many services. Finally, the vast young population provide a 'Natural Demand' for housing, sustained by flexibility of credit facilities.

 

The real estate industry is expected to benefit from more than 13 billion JD worth of investments. In addition to the fore mentioned forecast, infrastructure and projects set along the large development projects and estates is expected to reach another 15 billion JD. According to the Department of Land and Surveys the value traded in 2006 reached 4.9 billion which represents a 40% increase from the previous year and is expected to reach 6.0 billion by the end of 2007, and 7.0 billion in the year 2007. The Central Bank of Jordan recently announced that the value of real estate in 2007 amounted to 4.028 billion JD.

 

The real estate sector has a positive impact on the Jordanian economy, contribution of the sector to the GDP amounts to 1.183 billion JD in 2007 marking a 4.1% growth from the previous year. Whereas the construction sub-sector also grow by 9.8% in 2007 reaching 445.6 million JD. Both real estate and the construction sector have enjoyed a considerable period of growth, respectively 6.3% and 13.1% over the past 5 years. According to the Department of Statistics (2007), the real estate sector and related activities employ 3.9% of the Jordanian workforce and construction holds 6.3% of employment.

 

Contesting real estate market growth the number of construction companies also grew to over 250 companies by 2006 from only 86 in 2003.