First-time buyers and HNWIs will continue to drive Dubai’s housing

Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

Dubai real estate sector has a promising outlook and more first-time buyers are expected to venture into the growing residential market being dominated by high net worth individuals (HNWIs), says an industry veteran.

Ata Shobeiry, Chief Executive Officer of Zoom Property, said first-time investors have shown interest in the Emirate’s expanding housing sector following the government’s successful strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While it’s true that the market is mainly attracting global entrepreneurs, investors, and HNWIs, there’s been an increased interest shown by first-time investors as well. The credit mostly goes to the government and the developers for how they handled things and offered incentives during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Shobeiry told Gulf Today during an exclusive interview.

He said the DLD fee was waived and developers were willing to negotiate terms and be more flexible with their payment plans.

“With more expatriate and investor-friendly policies, I expect more first-time investors to venture into the Dubai property market. But, of course, HNWIs will dominate the real estate sector,” he said.

Ata Shobeiry, Chief Executive Officer of Zoom Property.

After a strong 2021, Shobeiry said it was believed that the market will face a dip, particularly post the culmination of Expo 2020. The market, in reality, defied all odds, which is pretty evident from the fact that the sales volume by the end of May 2022 has broken a 13-year record with a total of 30,903 transactions in total.

“As for the outlook for the second half, I believe the market will continue its upwards trajectory backed by the latest developments and visa reforms that will be implemented from September 2022,” he said.

Investor-friendly policies, a strong buyer appetite, and the launch of new developments featuring ultra-modern properties can be cited as the main growth drivers for the Dubai real estate market.

“And I believe, they will continue driving the market throughout 2022 and beyond as well,” he said.

In reply to a question about the challenges for real estate sector, Shobeiry said the major challenge for the Dubai property market is the upcoming global recession. However, the emirate is well-positioned to face this challenge.

“There will be an impact, but it will not be significant,” he said.

Elaborating, he said the government has already rolled out policies to curb its effects.

“The example of how it handled the Covid-19 pandemic is already in front of us, and I think, it’s safe to say that the government will handle the upcoming recession effectively as well,” he said.

Shobeiry said the high performance of the luxury segment can be accredited as one of the major reasons for the outstanding performance of the Dubai property market in the past few months.

“In fact, the rising demand for luxury properties led to the launch of many new developments in Dubai. So, it’s safe to say, at this point, that the luxury segment will continue its upwards trajectory in the coming months,” he said.

The chief executive of Zoom Property said there was a prevalent issue of oversupply in the market. However, the market seems to be going in the right direction in this regard as the delivery of over 31,000 units is expected to take place in 2022, with almost 6,700 units already delivered in the first quarter, taking the yearly predicted total of around 38,000 units.

Shobeiry said Zoom Property is the fastest growing property with over 1,600 real estate agencies listed.

“We have over 100,000 property listings and the number is continuously growing. Our strength lies in offering client-focused services, which is one of the major factors that set us apart from our competitors,” he said.

About the expansion of his company, he said Zoom Property is expanding its presence in the UAE and the region.

“We are already in the phase of expanding as we have recently collaborated with various Abu Dhabi real estate agencies. Our portal also features property listings located in KSA, the UK, and other foreign destinations,” he said.

“As a leading property portal, we are always thriving to grow and advance in the industry. A lot of new and exciting features are there in the pipeline. However, I can’t really say much about them as they are initial planning phase,” he said.

“Zoom Property aims to dominate the market not only in Dubai but the entire UAE. Furthermore, we plan to extend our services to other regions in near future,” Shobeiry concluded.

Zoom Property is an emerging property portal in the UAE with a primary focus on Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah markets. The portal also features international properties in KSA, the UK and other regions on the platform to facilitate buyers and renters. It is also popular among developers, real estate brokerages and property sellers.