Investment activity up in Dubai Marina
Dubai, September 22, 2013
The residential sales and leasing department of Cluttons, a global real estate company with a dedicated Middle Eastern presence, has seen high investment activity after winning the instruction to sell each unit within Shams 1, Jumeirah Beach Residences.
The project which holds over 300 apartments and offers end users and investors an exclusive opportunity to purchase prime beachfront apartments with the ability to move in immediately, as the majority are being sold with vacant possession, said a statement.
Since the metamorphosis of the desert site opposite the Emirates Golf Club first began 15 years ago, the Dubai Marina district has evolved into one of Dubai’s most sought after residential submarkets.
Dubai Marina’s ‘original six’ towers by Emaar, containing 1,100 units, are also credited with being the first apartments in Dubai that were made available for sale to expat buyers. For the past year, Shams 1 has been mostly locked down until Cluttons reawakened its re-sale potential from September 4, the statement said.
The recent resurgence of the Dubai property market has, in part, been aided by favourable mortgage lending rates, a growing population and the strong performance of the emirate’s trade, hospitality and leisure sectors.
This has been coupled with the city’s emergence as the perceived regional safe haven in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, it said.
As a result, during the first six months of this year alone, average residential values surged by 30.6 per cent across Dubai, underpinned by the strong performance of apartments, which have recorded a 34 per cent rise in average capital values.
Although apartments in Dubai Marina have recorded a 13.5 per cent growth in values over this period, average capital values as at the end of Q2 2013 stood 34.2 per cent higher than the same period in 2012, underscoring the depth of demand for residential assets in this submarket.
Furthermore, although prices fell 43.2 per cent from their Q3 2008 market peak, they have climbed 39.3 per cent from their market low in Q3 2011 and currently stand 31.1 per cent below the historic market high, which is in line with the performance of the broader residential market across Dubai, the statement said.
The strength of buyer demand has no doubt been further bolstered by the enhancement of critical infrastructure in and around Dubai Marina, with the city’s first tram network, slated to open in 12-months’ time, expected to boost buyer appeal. Furthermore, with Meraas’ Jumeirah Beach Village and Blue Water’s development, featuring the Dubai Eye, Cluttons anticipate interest to secure a home in Dubai Marina to gather further momentum.
“The Jumeirah Beach Residence community within Dubai Marina remains the top target for most buyers in the area, due to its beachfront location and extensive Jumeirah Beach Walk retail colonnade”, added Lucy Bush, head of residential sales and leasing.
Bush further said: “Despite its relative maturity, having launched in 2002, we have recorded a consistently high level of buyer demand for JBR properties, which is underpinned by the world class cosmopolitan lifestyle that comes with the area. In addition, the unrestricted views of the Arabian Gulf further add to the appeal. And it’s not just individual buyers who are rushing to close deals here; we are also recording a sharp upturn in investor appetite for both tenanted and vacant buildings, driven by attractive yields, which currently hover around the 6 per cent to 8 per cent mark. The Shams 1 building is a really good example of this as its proximity to the new tram station and positioning at the western fringe of the Marina means that we are seeing a quick and rapid sale of the vacant residential units, given the magnitude of investor appetite for this type of asset class.” - TradeArabia News Service
