Dubai-based property developments from well-established developers are being oversubscribed almost within a few hours. Residents as well as foreign investors are experiencing new projects from developers on a constant basis. For instance, a Meraas project was sold completely within 45 minutes and an Aldar Properties, a project in Dubai within 72 hours.
”T1 developers have a significant advantage here because they have the best brand image, the most credible track record, and the most strategic locations,” Added Firas Al Msaddi CEO of Fäm Properties while explaining – They also have the largest brokerage network in the market, which controls most of the sales in the market, and collectively their portfolio often outperforms those of the ranked developers.
Some of the Tier 1 developers are Meraas, Dubai Holding, Emaar Properties, Nakheel, and Damac Properties to mention but a few. Notably, banks also provide term finance to property consumers in off-plan purchased properties in projects of Tier 1 developers.
Not every project is a bestseller
Not every project from T1 developers gets sold out in hours; however, those which provide something better and different from the other developers get sold out in hours, added the CEO of Fäm Properties.
Currently, the off-plan property market in Dubai is quite active, but not all developers are optimizing it, Al Msaddi said: “Since all property developers do not tap into the off-plan market to the optimum, there are peculiarities – for instance, Verve City Walk recently sold 427 off-plan items in 45 minutes the penthouses going for Dh30 million. The best sales stories come from developers like Meraas devoting time and resources to know the market inside-out, planning carefully, and having experienced brokers on their team,” Al Msaddi said.
Verdes by Haven, a project by Aldar Properties saw over 660 units sold in Dubai in the first 3 days of its launch. The sales events crafted more than Dh1 billion, of which 83% were in expatriate residents and foreign investors. Of the international buyers, Indian buyers were followed by Egyptian and British passport holders. An interesting statistic was that 28% of the Median’s sales were made to female patrons and 72% were made to male patrons. To sum up, 56% of buyers were under 45, and 88% of sales were first time buyers.
Al Msaddi said this is the best thing that has happened to the market today because today it is a mix of different nationality investors.
‘Well, yes, for some specific projects we do tend to employ more staff of a particular nationality’. For instance, regarding NAS Gardens, we have observed greater Investors’ attention paid to the Indian, Asians, Arabs, Iranians, Russians, and others. However, in seafront projects, this picture is completely different where investors from other nationalities are seen here and Europeans are dominant.
Payment plans imperative
Al Msaddi’s opinion was that the large availability of apartments is affecting the buyers and investors to think twice when it comes to selecting a project or even a certain house. This is one of the signs of a maturing market, whereby consumers have been produced in large numbers and can afford many products in the market, thereby making the market to be fully developed.
“Thus, competition among real estate developers are increasing, and several pivotal competitive indicators determine who gets the attention,” he continued.
“Meanwhile with the property prices rocketing to an all-time high, the cost per ticket is now more than the per sq foot,” he said and continued that, “payment plans are more important than ever, bearing in mind the cost of borrowing NOW is much higher.”
Several new property launches did not hinder the fact that some Dubai property projects were being sold minutes after being launched.
