Demand for property in Dubai picking up, says Emaar's Mohamed Alabbar

Property prices in Dubai are reasonably priced and demand is picking up, according to Mohamed Alabbar, founder of Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest listed developer.

“Real estate business is a cyclical business. We have an oversupply, [but] Dubai is reasonably priced. Our prime time price was a little lower than Chicago prices. We are also going through what the world is experiencing. Good demand continues from India, Saudi Arabia, Russia and China,” Alabbar said during the UAE-Israel Future Digital Economy Summit at Gitex Technology Week on Monday.

Cavendish Maxwell data showed that 220,208 units have been delivered since 2009 while nearly 140,000 units have been handed over since 2014, showing huge supply that came online in the last few years. The supply peaked this year and going forward, lesser supply will come to the market as developers pull back and launch less projects.

Alabbar said pre-Covid-19 sales were about $15 million a day and it crashed during the pandemic. But sales have now recovered to $12 million a day.

The Emaar chief noted that the company is taking care of stocks now. “Government entities have been wise on the supply side. The entities decided to stop new developments a year back.”

“What the UAE has done in healthcare and security shows that this place is safe for our families and great place to move in. Hence, a lot of families are moving in to the UAE,” he said. — waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

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