The Dubai-based developer Seven Tides is preparing to sell an unspecified number of apartments at its Anantara The Palm Residences.
In May, the company put on sale 170 apartments covering three floors adjacent to Anantara The Palm Resort and Spa and have sold 74 per cent of the units, said Abdulla bin Sulayem, the chief executive of Seven Tides.
Next month, two more floors are going on the market, but the company declined to give the total number of units going on sale there. The complex has a total of 442 apartments on eight floors.
The entry price of the apartments is Dh2.6 million, and more than 90 per cent of those who have already bought apartments are cash buyers, similar to the trend at other freehold properties.
“Back in 2006 and 2007, mostly Indians and Russians were buying, now people from all parts of the world are buying here,” Mr bin Sulayem said.
And the company says 80 to 90 per cent of them are end-users.
The Anantara residences are managed by the Thai hotel group and can be put back into the rental pool.
“The market is going up, up and up,” Mr bin Sulayem said. “Usually there are not a lot of transactions at the end of the year, but this year has been way above expectations and I signed a few contracts on December 31.”
Even then, the company also does not expect a property bubble similar to that in 2008.
“The 2008 bubble was not a Dubai problem but a world problem,” he said. “And Dubai is a secure market; people feel safe visiting and living here, and the demand is there, and the Government is taking the right steps.”
The Dubai Land Department doubled the transfer fees from 2 to 4 per cent last year, affecting all property sales except the first one from a developer to buyer. The fee is paid in cash.
Land and property worth about Dh38.83 billion was sold last year, up from Dh23.37bn in the previous year. This year so far, the figure stands at about Dh586.5m, according to the Dubai Land Department. Of that, the two transactions on Palm Jumeirah were worth about Dh15.80m.
Seven Tides also owns the 396-room Mövenpick Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel, and the 450,000 square metres of Ibn Battuta Gate Office building, which came on stream in 2010. A 5,811.53 square feet office space there has an asking price of Dh582,300 a year while a 4,077.4 sq ft space is going for Dh346,579 on the Better Homes website.
The office area has an occupancy rate of 70 per cent and the commercial market is expected to pick up.
“We expect [the rates] to go up as [Al Maktoum International Airport] and Expo 2020 are coming up on that side,” Mr bin Sulayem said.
The Mövenpick Oceania hotel, also on the Palm, is on hold as the company wants to sell off the apartments at Anantara first.
And while it does not have plans to enter other emirates now, it is looking at a few projects near the Expo 2020 site, Mr bin Sulayem said.
ssahoo@thenational.ae
