Dubai
Dubai Properties is not waiting around for the property market to “wake up” — the developer is out to do that on its own. It was the first to come up with off-plan villa launches this year, at its expanding community in Dubailand. And more are on the way.
But in a nod to market realities and to give investors a jolt, Dubai Properties is making a fairly aggressive pitch with its “Villanova” properties, both on the pricing as well as the freebies that come with them. “Unlike other developers, we are not charging for the 450-500 square feet of parking space that comes with the units,” said Marwan Al Kindi, Executive Director — Sales and Sales Operations. “The villas themselves are fairly large with a three-bed from 2,000 plus square feet and priced from Dh2.2 million.” (A five-bed unit is carrying a tag of Dh3.2 million.) The developer’s backing of villa launches is surprising in itself — for one, it was the category worst affected by the downturn in the market in 2015 and first-half of 2016. Even in the second-half of last year, when transaction levels started picking up in the wider market, villa sales remained muted.
But for Dubai Properties, the backing for villas and town houses is part of a strategic push. It earlier had launches of such clusters as Mudon, Arabella and the Serena. The Villanova launch thus fits in with the pattern. These are all within the Dubailand master-development, and concentrated in the areas off the Dubai-Al Ain highway.
“You cannot wait indefinitely for buyers to wake up and get in,” said Al Kindi. “Developers have to do their part and get them to wake up, through payment plans, other options such as not charging for the parking areas, etc. If so, it does not matter what’s being sold is a villa.” (Dubai Properties now has more than 2,000 villas and town houses, with residents having already moved into locations such as Mudon. On most of its projects the developer is currently waiving 50 per cent of the registration fees with the Land Department.) And the developer is going strategic with its marketing push with these properties, concentrating on social media and other digital interactions to target likely buyers. “These are what we call the ‘silent releases’,” said Al Kindi. “We have the ready land to keep expanding our villa offerings as and when needed.”
Since the Villanova release announcement, Sobha Properties had the launch of “Quad Homes” at the MBR (Mohammad Bin Rashid) City development. Whether other developers in Dubai will follow with their own villa offerings remains to be seen.
According to Asteco in its latest Dubai realty bulletin, average villa sale prices were generally flat during the fourth quarter. And the overall change on a year-on-year basis was “minimal at negative 2 per cent”. “Well-established communities in prime locations such as Emirates Living and Arabian Ranches saw double-digit growth, whilst rates for developments with supply growth potential declined,” it added.
Asteco’s stretch estimates reckon that more than 12,000 villas and town houses are in the handover pipeline this year.
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