Dubai: With sales momentum in their favour, Dubai’s developers are homing in on locations other than the traditional freehold clusters for their projects. Just weeks after Tecom Investment launched a villa project on the upscale Umm Suqeim Road, Jersey Properties has come out with an apartment cluster in Mirdif.
According to the developer, this is the first time a full freehold status will be offered to units sold in Mirdif. (Of course, there are the individual properties owned by UAE and GCC nationals in the locality.) Prices at Mirdif Tulip start at Dh1.1 million for a one-bedroom unit, and tagged at between Dh1.8 million to Dh2.2 million for a three-bed.
“That puts prices in the range of Dh1,150-Dh1,400 a square foot, and there has been strong interest from a younger generation of UAE national buyers wishing to get into the property market,” said Iseeb Rehman, CEO of Sherwoods Global, which is selling the Mirdif Tuilp units on behalf of the developer.
“They represent the largest component of the buyer base to date… the pricing is far removed from the Dh8 million to Dh10 million that such buyers often go in for.”
“This is the second phase of sales and there has been a 3-5 per cent increase in the pricing. Apart from individual plots, there’s no freehold property available in the area to date — Uptown Mirdif was on long-term leasehold and currently have a price range of Dh1,200-Dh1,250 a square foot.”
Compelling rationale
Developers are on the lookout for any marketing or locational USP (unique selling point) for their projects. Creating developments in hitherto prime non-freehold neighbourhoods thus offers a compelling rationale for seller and buyer alike. Moreover, there is hardly any free space available in the established communities, and many of the newer master-developments are tilted towards the high-end in what they will offer, at least in the initial phases.
For the 400-plus residences that will make up Villa Lantana in Umm Suqeim, Tecom Investment has got a pricing band of Dh2.37 million to Dh6.16 million. Umm Suqeim has an enduring image of being a prestige address among the city’s traditional neighbourhoods.
Jersey Properties had been holding the Mirdif plot on its books for the last seven years. Even after it finally decided to go ahead with the launch, the developer waited until construction had touched the 40 per cent completion before opening up sales.
“With almost all of the concrete in place [we] made sure buyers could see the progress,” said Ehab Elwishy, Technical Director at Jersey Properties.
In recent years, Mirdif’s residential base has expanded considerably with the expansion of communities such as Uptown Mirdif. Mall developers too have found it fertile ground, with Mirdif City Centre now one of the popular destinations for domestic shoppers or those who prefer to do a spot of relaxation there. Smaller-scaled retail addresses such as the Arabian Centre and Etihad Mall have been the others to benefit.