Monday, Aug 14, 2017

Dubai: Danube Properties isn’t eyeing the everyday property investors. The Dubai-based developer is aiming to capitalise on demand from tenants who want to move from renting units to owning their own homes.

Rizwan Sajan, chairman of Danube, believes there’s a “huge potential” to convert more expatriates in Dubai to owning property especially if it’s in the mid-market segment.

“Around 80-85 per cent of people still stay in rental apartments, so there’s a huge potential to covert these people into buying. The rents anyone is paying are very high. If a unit is priced at Dh1 million, a tenant would pay around Dh100,000 to rent it, which is 10 per cent of the price every year, so why should they pay rents when they can own this apartment?” the chairman said.

Sajan was talking to Gulf News ahead of an event to mark the delivery of 302 residential units across two towers, Glitz 1 and Glitz 2, in Studio City. The units, which were launched in January 2014, have all been sold.

In the second half of 2017, Danube is planning to launch at least two projects, both of which are for residential units in the mid-market segment. The first of the two projects will be launched in September, with the developer currently in talks to finalise a plot for the project in Dubai’s Arjan.

The second one will be launched in December, but the chairman said it was too early to disclose more details on it.

Asked if it was a good time to be launching property in Dubai considering the market has been seeing a slowdown, Sajan said, “Luckily, we’ve been able to sell whatever properties we launched. The reason we’ve been able to sell is we are targeting people in the mid-segment who are staying in rented apartments; these are the people we’re trying to convert into owning their own apartments.”

And he believes that trend of expatriates moving to own their own homes is likely to grow.

“Over the years, people will start owning. Right now, there’s a huge influx of people turning to owning rather than renting. All these areas such as JLT, JBR, the Marina, and Emirates Hills are becoming ownership apartments. More and more people are trying to own because they come to Dubai, and they don’t feel like leaving, and if you plan on staying here long-term, then it makes sense to have your apartment,” Sajan said.

The units delivered on Monday comprised studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, which is the same model Danube plans to follow when launching other projects.

“The smaller the unit, the higher the demand, and that’s a known fact in the market, not just here but worldwide. The segment I’m targeting don’t have that much money to spend on property, so they would like to have their own house, but a smaller house,” Sajan said.

Discussing the outlook for the property market in Dubai, the chairman said he expected prices to be stable during the rest of the year, after having gone down during the past year.

By Sarah Diaa Staff Reporter

Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.