Dubai: In a further tightening up of marketing properties in Dubai, the Land Department has stipulated that only three permits will be issued to promote or list each property. Effectively, this means that up to three agents can take up marketing of a property, and this in one stroke removes multiple listings and some of the other practices that had been taking place.
The rules come into effect October 1.
The moment a property gets sold, all promotional and advertising material related to it need to be removed instantly. An agent cannot also use an expired permit to sell. Older ads that bear listings of properties long sold will no longer be there as these will have to be removed by the agent/agency.
“No one agent can any longer have a thousand listings online,” said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fam Properties. “The market will witness a major consolidation in term of the number of agencies out there. It will have an immediate impact on the number of listings each property portal will feature from now on."
"The bigger and better agencies will benefit, and so will the most qualified and connected estate agents. What buyers and sellers will not see is multiple agents (at least more than 3) chasing them for the rights to their properties - or to sell them.
This will eliminate having to monitor many agents with different prices and ads - for the same property - and one which may no longer be available to buy.
What the Dubai Land Department wants:
- Prices and sizes of advertised properties will be 100% accurate when advertised;
- Properties being sold in secondary market cannot be advertised using permits issued for offplan to developers;
- No more fake or misleading properties to save time searching for properties
- Firas Al Msaddi of fam Properties
Heavy penalties
The new rules apply to the resale of existing properties, but could soon have coverage of offplan sales as well. Penalties for non-compliance will be stiff, ranging from Dh50,000 for a first offence to Dh1 million for multiple breaches and even leading up to suspensions for the agents involved.
It was recently that the Land Department made it mandatory for all marketing and advertising of properties on portals and other medium to carry compulsory permits.
What it means for estate agents and agencies:
- Larger brokerage firms with a track record will pick up a greater share of available listings in the market; and
- Agents depending on property portals will need to raise their game, especially of there is a drop in number of listings in the secondary market.
