Dubai: Property buyers queue up as new projects get sold out within hours of launch

The Nshama project is oversubscribed and was sold out within three hours

The common sight of long queues of property buyers which were seen during pre-Covid days is back in Dubai. As the real estate market makes a strong comeback, Dubai is yet again witnessing investors and end-users queuing up to grab a slice of properties being launched by reputed developers.

The UAE-based property developer Nshama’s 200-plus units of Shams Townhouses located in Town Square were snapped up by investors and end-users within a few hours of its launch over the weekend. Long queues of potential buyers were seen outside Nshama Townsquare Sales Centre in the early hours of Saturday.

Jeff Raju Kuruvilla, a sales manager with Positive Properties, said he was one of the earliest in the queue.

“By around 4am on Saturday, there were more than 100 people waiting in line. At 9am, when the gates opened, people started rushing in for their tokens. It reminded me of the scenes eight years ago when the Dubai property market was booming.”

Jeff was in the queue for buyers who wanted to get their hands on this project.

“The good thing about getting one of the earlier tokens is that my buyer can take a pick of the property they want rather than settle for what is left over,” he said.

“As soon as I got my token, I called my buyer. One of them who was coming from Abu Dhabi was already on his way. He came, paid the money and picked out the townhouse he wanted. He was very happy.”

First-time buyers

According to Jeff, who has been in the business for over nine years, there is an increase in the number of first-time home buyers.

“In the last couple of months, I have had a lot of clients who are buying their home in the UAE for the first time,” he said. “There are a number of reasons why people choose to buy here. The tax-free factor and the ease to do business are two of the most common reasons.”

Jeff added that the recent fluctuations of the stock market have also contributed to the interest in real estate in Jeff’s opinion. “When you have a property, the value of it is seldom going to crash like stocks crash,” he said. “It is a physical asset that will continue to have demand. So a lot of people think property investment is one of the safest bets now,” he concluded.

Why the project had people lining up

According to real estate industry sources, the Nshama project is oversubscribed and was sold out within three hours.

The townhouses were attractively priced at Dh1.62 million for a three-bedroom house with a built-up area of 2,100 sqft; and Dh2.1 million for a 4BHK with a built-up area of 2,381 sqft. The buyers were offered to pay 10 per cent downpayment, 40 per cent during construction and 50 per cent upon handover in 2024.

Dubai has in the past seen investors and end-users queue up in the wee hours on the day of the project launches by major developers like Emaar Properties.

Earlier this month, Danube Properties saw long queues ahead of its Gemz project which was also sold out on the same day. The project was snapped by end-users and brokers.

In September 2021, master developer Nakheel also saw a strong response with long queues of investors on the day of the sale of its 360 units of phase two of Murooj Al Furjan West. The three- and four-bed units in Al Furjan were offered for a starting price of Dh1.85 million.

Real estate boom is back and how!

Dubai’s real estate has been witnessing a strong recovery post-Covid-19 pandemic, led by villas and townhouses, with foreign investors flocking to the emirate after the successful handling of the pandemic.

The latest data by Dubai Land Department for May 2022 showed there were 6,651 real estate sales transactions worth Dh18.3 billion – the highest May on record in terms of real estate sales volume and value in the last 13 years. This is a 51.5 per cent increase year-on-year for sales volume and a 65.4 per cent increase in sales value when compared to May 2021.

In addition, strong demand is coming from new property buyers as well who are keen to buy Golden Visa.

Yuan Li (name changed on request), a Chinese national, recently told Khaleej Times that bought three properties in Dubai in order to be eligible for Golden Visa and to get good rental returns on her investment.

Source