Dubai’s Property Market Will Be Driven By Homeowners – Emaar’s Alabbar

Dubai’s real estate market will see a rise in home-owners and a shift towards affordable housing, according to Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of developer Emaar.

In his exclusive 2015 Gulf Business Power Letter, Alabbar stressed that the emirate’s property market was seeing interest from a different set of investors.

“With growth powered by the massive preparations to host the World Expo 2020 and the positive performance of Dubai’s diversified business sectors, demand for owned homes to live in, from a larger segment of the population, will gain traction,” he wrote.

“Dubai’s real estate market will thus be driven by homeowners, and not by speculators as in the past, and this is a great sign of a maturing market.”

The Emaar chairman also stated that trends within the industry were changing.

“The key shift will be the rise in demand for affordable luxury and value homes in Dubai.

“No doubt, the city will continue to witness robust appetite for high-end projects especially as ultra-high net worth individuals from across the world regard Dubai as the secure destination for their investments,” he stated.

The city will create a level playing field for developers but only for those who are “community-oriented, quality- driven and willing to partner in the city’s long-term growth,” he added.

Dubai’s property market, which saw a huge spike in prices in the last two years following the crash in 2009, has now begun levelling off, say experts.

According to the Dubai Land Department, the number of residential transactions fell 30 per cent last year, with values down 14 per cent.

“Dubai’s real estate sector ended the year on a quiet note as nearly all segments of the market witnessed subdued growth levels in Q4,” property consultant JLL said in a report this week.

“Average prices and rentals in the residential sector appear to have stabilised over recent months, with some locations registering marginal declines,” it added.

Read all the 2015 Gulf Business Power Letters in the January edition of the magazine.