PORTFOLIO | Property Ready Reckoner
Business
Bay
DIFC
Discovery Downtown
Gardens
Dubai
2008
Greens International
City
JBR
JLT
Jumeirah
Village
1,720
2,800
938
1,100
1,150
1,400
1,370
2,000
688
1,050
1,700
Dubai
Marina
1,365
1,800
1,600
2,200
2,700
850
1,250
1,700
2,700
1,210
AED per ft 2
Source: Asteco
Dubai Apartment Sales Prices
2,050
maths behind affordability, “The UAE has
over 820,000 middle-income households
representing about 40% of all households
in the country. By definition, affordable
housing must not cost more than 30%
of the gross household incomes for
households earning between AED 10,000
to AED 30,000 per month.”
“From market trends, we have observed
that Dubai’s property sector is maturing,
and there is clear demand for end-use
homes,” he adds while underscoring the
need to build houses for mid-to-low
income bracket earning between AED
12000-25000 per month to drive Dubai
property growth to the next level.
Concurring with Durie is John Stevens,
Managing Director of real estate services
company Asteco, who says, “We are
currently witnessing buyer preference
focused on more affordable mid-market
products as evidenced by the take-up
iin recent launches targeting this market
segment, this is the combination of
an affordable price tag and attractive
payment plans offered by developers.”
Palm
Jumeirah
2015
Find Good Reasons To Buy Off-Plan
Off-plan properties became popular
during the height of the property boom
in Dubai in 2005-06. But the buyers of
these properties were also among the
worst hit when the market fell sharply in
2008-09. However, now as developers are
seeing off plan sales making a comeback,
this naturally raises the question around
the risks involved from an investor’s
perspective. Experts say, off-plan
properties traditionally attract a higher
percentage of investors and speculators
than end-users when there are ample
finished properties available for sale in the
market.
“Across the UAE, the rental market
shows stability and therefore demand
is still strong from investors for off-plan
properties who are looking at procuring
assets which yield a good return on
investment,” maintains Stevens of Asteco.
“Investor Optimism is Growing”
Sameh Muhtadi, CEO, Bloom Holding, says the one positive trend over the
last few months is that investor optimism is growing
18
The general sentiment in the region’s
real estate sector everyone is talking
about is that of slowdown. What’s your
take?
The real estate sector is going through
somewhat of a slowdown, and in some
parts of the UAE we’ve seen significant
corrections in the prices. However, the
slowdown is not everywhere. At the end of
the day, it all depends on what’s on offer
to the buyer, the location, the pricing level,
and what’s the overall look and feel of the
project. In regards to Bloom Properties,
we’ve been doing extremely well. February
2016 was one of our best months ever.
Though we’re not immune to what is
happening in the market, we’ve positioned
ourselves well in the marketplace,
primarily because our emphasis is on
being strategic more than tactical. All
our projects are in prime locations. In a
nutshell, the key to our success lies in our
value proposition, i.e., we offer the right
product in the right place and at the right
price.
Many players in the UAE’s real estate
sector are struggling to maintain
positive cash flows in the current
market conditions and also as banks in
the UAE being more cautious now while
lending to property sector. Are you
facing any kind of such issues?
Banks certainly have become more
cautious now, but that’s obviously
in response to the property market
conditions. Banks are now looking at
feasibilities of the project much more
closely, they rely more on independent
evaluators reports, and they regularly
review the projects progress. However, in
so far as Bloom Properties are concerned,
we haven’t had any issues in arranging
project financing.
When do you think the market
sentiment will improve?
The global economy and markets have
become more volatile, complex and even
more unpredictable and we a