Dubai: Dubailand — or at least some clusters within it — is emerging as a favoured destination for properties targeted at the budget-conscious buyer. Prices currently average Dh700 per square foot and more, increasingly seen as a pricing point where prospective end-users can be convinced to buy in. In Dubailand’s case, there are also the value additions brought in by a fairly advanced infrastructure and a slew of projects that are getting completed.
According to market sources, there are few existing locations in Dubai where a developer can still comfortably price-in at the sub-Dh800 mark. Land values, and the way they have shot up with any creation of new infrastructure, is what prevents them from doing so.
One such that meets the sub-Dh800 criteria is the Q-Point mid-rise cluster from Al Mazaya Holding — “We had acquired 52 plots back in 2007-08 and built it up over multiple phases,” said Ibrahim Al Saqabi, Group CEO. “It did not make sense at the time to launch all of it together … the infrastructure just wasn’t ready.
“When we started, our pricing was set at Dh550 per square foot and now it’s at Dh750 — for investors that’s quite a decent sized value gain.”
At Q-Point, the developer is in the home stretch of completing buildings that will together add 3,131 units into the marketplace. “We are at the 80 per cent mark and should finish by end of the year,” said Al Saqabi. The buildings are in the ground plus seven-storey (G+7) to G+14 format.
On Tuesday, the developer also launched the latest in its Q series — the Q-Line will be built on four plots and which would offer 500 apartments. These will be located at the junction between Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed and Al Ain roads.
The pricing on these is yet to be revealed — “We have an inventory of a further 600 units at Q-Point that will need to be sold first,” said Al Saqabi. “I think by July-August we should be in a position to fix the prices for the Q-Line units — by then we should have touched the 20 per cent construction mark. “We could have had the off-plan launch now by putting up the bank guarantee and then taking the Rera (Real Estate Regulatory Agency) approval. But our priority is clearing the Q-Point backlog.” (The project is scheduled for completion in 2017.) Al Mazaya’s land bank also extends to other clusters within Dubailand, such as at the Liwan community. But no decision has been taken as to when to kick-start the development schedule there. It owns 29 plots being developed by third-party investors.
