Please share a brief history on the growth of H&S Real Estate since inception.
H&S Real Estate took its inception in 2014 as the founding members made the audacious decision to transition from being major investors in Dubai properties to building an independent brokerage company mainly to manage the group’s portfolio. H&S has been honoured with multiple prestigious awards by leading developers in the Middle East such as Emaar, Nakheel, Tilal Al Ghaf, Dubai Holding and Damac, and recognised by the Dubai Land Development as the number one brokerage service company in just one year.
With perseverance and demonstrated excellence, H&S Real Estate today has its subsidiaries in six major cities in four different countries, with its head office in Dubai and the other office in Ajman. The other offices are spread across Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi in Pakistan, and one office in Canada.
In your view, what is the scope of growth for the luxury property market in Dubai and is there enough supply to meet demand?
Dubai has always been a great option as one of the most popular destinations for investing overseas. This year we had transactions for whole buildings and floors, which were purchased by renowned Chinese investment groups and individuals.
The impressive performance of Dubai’s luxury property market in the first half of 2022 will likely continue for the rest of the year. That is the consensus among industry experts and analysts looking at the upper segment of Dubai’s real estate sector, with rising demand and surging prices as key contributing factors that will fuel its growth. The robust performance of the luxury real estate market in Dubai is benefitting largely from a strong demand from foreign investors. This will continue for the rest of 2022 as an estimated 4,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs) are expected to move to Dubai.
How has the property rentals market grown in Dubai, where is the sector headed over the next couple of years and how is H&S Real Estate contributing to this growth?
These are interesting times for the rental real estate sector in Dubai. Upsizing is a keen trend being witnessed in the business and it’s mainly because landlords are realising that they’re better off lowering their asking prices than keeping an empty house. Average apartment and villa rental rates continued their upward trajectory in the third quarter with 4 per cent and 5 per cent rises, respectively. Rental rates are expected to remain elevated towards the end of the year and in 2023.
What is the growth strategy for H&S Real Estate over the next decade, what are your focus areas going to be?
At a time of accelerating change, our strategy is to leverage on three main themes. This includes innovation, initiating a new operational model to reach all our prospects internationally, and capitalise on the phenomenal performance of the secondary market, which we are witnessing now, and finally, setting strategic regional priorities for the future. Despite the short-term challenges of the pandemic, in 2020, H&S set itself a clear and ambitious tenfold growth plan over the next decade.
