Dubai - NakheelNakheel, a Dubai World company and one of the world’s largest and most innovative real estate developers, today announced that its 2008 sales are already showing a threefold increase on 2007’s full-year figures.

In the year to date, more than 6,100 NakheelNakheel units have been sold (97 per cent) or reserved (3 per cent), exceeding the developer’s own ambitious targets. Unit sales in 2008 comprised more than two thirds apartment sales (68 per cent), over a quarter villa sales (27 per cent) and five per cent land plot sales. These units were released in 13 staggered launches between 1 January and 31 August 2008. A further 2,650 units are set to be released in 11 additional sales launches scheduled for the final quarter of 2008.

The three NakheelNakheel developments accounting for the largest volume of sales were Badrah Manara apartments, with almost a third of sales by volume (32.2 per cent); apartments in Lake District, with 15.2 per cent of the total; and Al Furjan villas, making up 14.7 per cent of sales by volume.

Manal Shaheen, Director of Sales, Marketing and Customer Service at NakheelNakheel, said:

“We are delighted but by no means surprised by this year’s phenomenal sales success. Demand for Nakheel’s Dubai properties continues to rise across residential and commercial sectors, and we see no signs of this demand abating – despite recent gloomy predictions from one or two analysts. This year’s sales have even been immune to the usual summer dip in July and August, which indicates just how healthy the market is.

“If you compare the expansive vision of Dubai to the construction capacity constraint, which is currently around 80,000 dwellings per year, and if you believe that population growth will continue to rise by 6-7 per cent per annum - a conservative estimate, then by 2020 we will still not have enough residences to meet demand - even with the staggering amount of homes that NakheelNakheel is delivering over the next two decades.”

NakheelNakheel is providing 50 per cent of Dubai’s residential supply by building homes for three million people ranging from affordable housing to the ultimate in luxury living in order to meet the demands of Dubai’s growing cosmopolitan population. NakheelNakheel has developed a large volume of affordable and family living in three distinct areas of Dubai:

Waterfront, International City and Al Furjan. The developer also plans to create 10 million sq ft of retail space through plans announced by Nakheel Retail.

Manal Shaheen added:

“Through bold decisions made by our leaders, Dubai has established ‘first mover’ advantage in the region, with clear property laws and legislation for the protection of the consumer. Homebuyers, including overseas investors, can buy property freehold, safe in the knowledge that legal watchdogs such as RERA exist to protect their best interests. This protection has a vital role to play in the long-term success and stability of Dubai’s real estate sector.”

Dubai is increasingly becoming the business and tourism hub of the Middle East, and, with 1.7 billion people living within a four-hour flight radius of the Emirate, is set for continued future growth. Having already played a leading role in establishing Dubai as a leading tourism destination, Nakheel’s planned tourism projects will include up to 250 new hotels – a 50 per cent increase on the current number in the emirate. The Palm Jumeirah alone is more than doubling the number of beachfront hotels in Dubai, with more than 30 hotels and 14,000 rooms. Numbers of hotel and hotel-apartment guests in Dubai continue to show strong year-on-year increases, with 500,000 more guests in 2007 than 2006.

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About Nakheel
NakheelNakheel is one of the world's largest privately held real estate developers, and a key player in realising the vision of Dubai for the 21st century: creating a world class destination for living, business and tourism.

NakheelNakheel is developing an iconic portfolio of innovative landmark projects in Dubai, and now in key markets around the globe, across a range of sectors - residential, commercial, hotels, retail, and leisure. NakheelNakheel's projects are conservatively estimated to be worth US$80 billion. Upon completion NakheelNakheel's waterfront projects will have added more than 1,000km of shoreline to Dubai's coastline.

NakheelNakheel's Dubai portfolio currently includes Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Deira, The World, Waterfront, The Universe, Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Village, Jumeirah Park, Jumeirah Heights, The Gardens, Discovery Gardens, Ibn Battuta Mall, Al Furjan, International City, and Dragon Mart.

NakheelNakheel is a key entity within Dubai World. Dubai World is one of the world's largest holding companies and supervises a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Dubai government across five continents and more than 100 countries.

For more information, please contact:
Greg Moore or Mustafa Al-Sheikhly
Four Communications
Tel: +971 55 985 3376/70
Email: Nakheel@fourcommunications.com
Website: www.nakheelmediacentre.com

© Press Release 2008