Chairman of Dubai’s ORO24 Developments on the country’s real estate trends

What are the factors that have bolstered the growth of the UAE’s real estate sector in the past two years?
The UAE today embodies the best example of governance. We must understand that nothing here happened overnight; it’s taken decades of supreme effort from the government to create what we are experiencing and enjoying today. Dubai and the UAE have done everything right in the past few years. Be it infrastructure development, trade liberalisation, immigration reforms, the successful staging of Expo 2020 and the swift decisions taken to tackle the impact of the pandemic.

These factors have played an important role in the recovery and growth of the real estate sector.

Any key trends that hold promise based on the first quarter’s results?
I see two distinct trends. Consumers are coming in from a wider demography and particularly from countries, which previously did not invest in the UAE’s real estate sector. I’ve also seen an unprecedented increase in consumer confidence, both from new and old residents, not just in the real estate sector, but across all sectors and the overall economy of Dubai and the UAE.

Tell us about your company and how it has leveraged the uptick in the UAE’s property market?
ORO24 Developments is an innovative real estate firm that aims to meet all our clients’ needs. We pride ourselves on creating a unique combination of convenience and lifestyle offerings at attractive price points. We have incorporated next-gen technology in our business, which enables us to deliver unique and innovative solutions.

A glimpse of that can be seen in our latest project TORINO By ORO24, which has been successfully received by clients and buyers. TORINO is an exclusive gated, residential community, which is located in Arjan. The project consists of contemporary homes offering excellent amenities that complement modern living.

What is the company’s key USP?
I consider property development a serious business, which must be backed by techno-commercial-legal core competencies to eliminate risks, which otherwise are far too many in this trade. Often, a step taken forward can’t be undone. So, I believe we must focus and carefully plan our progress. It’s also important to clearly understand the objective of one’s business. I value people’s confidence in ORO24 and we want to ensure that every real estate offering we present to the market delivers tremendous value, features a unique consumer-friendly, sustain-able design, and is delivered within the promised timeline.

The UAE’s property market has emerged as a safe haven for investors. Tell us about this trend and its impact.
Through its investor-friendly regulations, the country provides great protection for investors and their investments. I see a strong demand in the real estate sector specially for residential assets. Historically, a large volume of expats employed in UAE would prefer investing in their respective home countries. The immigration reforms coupled with the government’s efficient handling of the pandemic has changed the dynamics of how expats consider their residency in the UAE, with many of them choosing to buy homes here now.

How would you define the future of the real estate market and how has technology transformed the sector?
The real estate industry itself is conventional and will evolve slowly. We must ensure that all new methods of building are time-tested and sustainable. How-ever, the use of technology will continue to increase in design, experience, market-ing, delivery etc., as part of the segment popularly known as proptech. We incorporate a lot of building information modelling (BIM) data into our design process. We have invested heavily in cybersecurity and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to create seamless and secure transactions for our consumers. We have also infused artificial intelligence in many segments of our business process for efficiency.

Give us your future outlook for the market.
In my belief, the market and demand will continue on an upward trajectory for a considerable time. There is a high momentum particularly in the off-plan segment and it will only grow, knowing the investor sentiment and attractive commercial offers being provided by developers. The country is among the top three property investment destinations in the world; however, property prices are still way below the global rates, and that’s a big draw for investors.