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Abu Dhabi investment group Yas Holding has launched a new real estate business to capitalize on the strong demand for luxury properties.
The company’s real estate division named Taraf will operate as a luxury and boutique residential property developer and deliver “thoughtfully curated and exclusive” homes across sought-after locations in the UAE.
The developer, which is set to unveil its project “in the coming weeks”, will target “discerning” buyers from the UAE and abroad, according to a statement on Wednesday.
The launch comes as the UAE has been witnessing an influx of property buyers and high-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs). In Dubai, property transactions in 2022 reached AED 528 billion ($144 billion), surging by 76.5% from a year earlier.
“We are entering the market alongside the existing top real estate developers in the country with multiple developments in the coming year,” said Ahmad Shibel, CEO, Real Estate at Taraf.
Yas Holding CEO Low Ping noted that the UAE has been “witnessing a surge” in “long-term investments”.
“[The trend has been] supported by strong confidence in the country’s economy, which has strengthened in recent years and is expected to witness continue growth,” Ping noted.
Ping said that Taraf will develop “exceptional, exclusive and enduring” properties that will create long-lasting value and “bring a sense of comfort and tranquility” to end users.
Last year, Dubai’s luxury market saw buyers snapping up homes worth millions of dollars. A record 219 ultra-prime homes in Dubai that cost $10 million or more were sold in 2022, compared to just 11 properties in 2010, according to property consultant Knight Frank. The number of multimillion-dollar homes sold in Dubai last year surpassed the total recorded between 2010 and 2020.
“The performance at the top of the market clearly demonstrates the arrival of Dubai as a luxury hub to rival long established markets elsewhere, with no sign to suggest a slowdown in the seemingly relentless demand from the global ultra-high-net-worth individuals zeroing in on the emirate in search of second homes,” Faisal Durrani, Partner – Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank, said last week.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)