Abu Dhabi offer briefs mortgages for TDIC villas

Abu Dhabi Finance, the Emirate's home finance provider, announced Sunday that it will offer mortgages for the residential villas at the TDIC's St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort development with interest rates starting from 5.75 per cent.The Residences at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort is a collection of 32 exclusive villas due for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2011. The four and five bedroom villas that overlook the Saadiyat Beach Golf Course and the Arabian Gulf, come with a price tag of Dh22 million to Dh25 million.Philip Ward, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Finance, told Gulf News that any applicant "with a down payment, salary and lifestyle that allows them to comfortable meet the monthly payments can quality for this rate.""It is not all about having a high salary; it is about being able to demonstrate that you will be able to live within your means and service your debt. It starts with one of our mortgage advisors sitting together looking at their income, their commitments, and possible future expenditure and then mapping out the best option for their individual circumstances," he said.Jean-Luc Desbois, managing director of Home Matters, a mortgage consultancy firm, told Gulf News that an interest rate of 5.75 per cent is considered to be competitive in today's mortgage market even though there are some banks offering rates as low as 4.99 per cent. "The average is 5.75 to 6 per cent, so it is competitive," he said. Abu Dhabi Finance said that it will also offer a host of other benefits, including a loan-to-value ratio of up to 85 per cent, mortgage tenures of up to 30 years, and a range of repayment options, including the choice of having a one-month payment holiday per year. "That's the highest loan-to-value ratio in the market for expats today, so that's also very competitive," Desbois said, adding that the highest loan available in the market to UAE national is 90 per cent.Previously, the TDIC said that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with a number of banks to provide financing to interested buyers. From / Gulf News