Dubai 'first-home' initiative all set for listings of under Dh5m properties - with discounts too

Dubai: The initial batch of properties under Dubai’s new ‘first-home’ initiative will be listed as early as next week, according to sources with some of the developers who have signed up for the programme.

These units are available to those residents and UAE Nationals who have not invested in a home previously.

Some of the developers plan to offer up to 10% of units in their new launches for the Dubai first-home initiative.

These units will, of course, be priced up to Dh5 million, and it’s up to the developers to ‘decide what the discounts’ would be.

The standard discount would be 10% or so.

“By setting aside a certain percentage in each new launch, we can ensure first-time home buyers in Dubai can get the same options on location choices, price range, etc., that other investors do,” said a senior property industry source. (In the mid-2000s, Dubai had considered allotting a fixed number of units in projects on discounted terms to allow mid-income end-users to come on board. This was during the first Dubai freehold property boom.)  

The listed properties would show up once interested buyers sign up to the programme through the Dubai Land Department website or the Dubai REST app.

So far, 13 developers – including big names such as Emaar, Nakheel, Damac and Azizi – have signed on, and top Dubai Land Department officials confirmed that more could sign up soon.

Interested buyers who meet the criteria will also get to choose among nearly-ready or ready units in projects, developer sources add.

“If, for instance, there is a straight 10% discount on a ready unit in a fairly well-established freehold residential area, that’s quite a price benefit,” said an estate agent. “Clearly, the discounts become bigger the higher the price of the property chosen. This can have a big say in a first-time property buyer selecting a higher priced location, whereas earlier he might have been priced out.

“This is where Dubai’s first-home initiative will have a big say.”

In the months ahead, the UAE banking sector will be the other major beneficiary from the first-home project. A sizable number of these applicants will need home financing to pay through the mortgage period, of up to 18 years.