Dubai: Dubai’s property market, even at the premium end, can take heart from the first quarter numbers with Dubai Marina recording the highest transactional value of Dh578 million. It was followed by the apartments sold at the Palm Jumeirah, which totalled Dh341 million, according to numbers released by Luxhabitat, the estate agency.
On why investors are again picking up premium realty in Dubai, Ian Kirkby, Luxury Sales Director, said: “The main reasons include the new accounting policies from private banking in European countries, changes in tax laws in India and the general global economic situation. A lot more UHNWIs (ultra-high networth investors) are finding Dubai to be a safe haven.”
In the villa domain, Emirates Hills dominated with Dh263 million in sales followed by those at Palm Jumeirah with Dh237 million and The Springs and Meadows at Dh236.7 million.
“The end of 2015 saw a little bit of low hanging fruit opportunity in the Emirates Living area, but nothing too dramatic,” said Sally Ann Ghai, Luxury Sales Specialist at Luxhabitat. “There has been consistent interest from buyers over the last year, but many have been too opportunistic and not genuinely motivated.
“This is an affluent area in a prime location — so massive value drop expectations are unrealistic. However, there has been some sustained price softening in the Lakes and Meadows, and the more confident buyers have seen enough price stability recently to call the bottom of the market in this area and make a measured, realistic judgement call.
“It’s still an end-user community, so this is a long term decision, but I think we will start to see prices slowly gain by the end of this year and into 2017. Buyers who are waiting for further reductions may find themselves disappointed if they don’t make a move soon.”
