The combined off-plan sales of the top five real estate developers in Dubai accounted for more than 60 percent of the deals made last year, a new report revealed.

Emaar Properties, Damac, Dubai Properties, Azizi Developments and Meraas managed to take the biggest bite out of the off-plan market last year, having scored 15,181 transactions in 12 months, Data Finder said in a report.

The top developers did not only dominate the market by topping the sales charts, but they also managed to secure a lot more real estate deals last year than they did in 2018 despite reports of a slowing market.

The real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder Group said that the best performer among Dubai’s developers is Emaar, which registered 8,600 off-plan property sales in 2019. Emaar’s 2019 sales also represented a 260 percent increase over the previous year and 36 percent of the market share.

Asked how the master developer of Burj Khalifa managed to emerge as the “leader of the pack,” Lynnette Abad, director of data and research at Property Finder, said Emaar’s ability to consistently deliver high-quality projects has set it apart from its competitors.

“Emaar has been a reputable developer for over 20 years in Dubai. They have been consistently delivering top quality master-planned communities and buildings with high quality of construction, property management and customer management,” Abad told Zawya.

Since its inception in 1997, Emaar has delivered several master-planned developments in Dubai, and its portfolio includes the Burj Khalifa tower, Downtown Dubai, Dubai Mall, Dubai Marina Mall and Dubai Creek Harbour, an ongoing project that will be the home of the world’s next tallest structure, the Dubai Creek Tower.

Despite the real estate slowdown, Emaar recently launched several projects, including the 25 billion UAE dirhams project called The Valley on the Dubai-Al Ain Road and Phase 3 of Arabian Ranches.

The second-biggest seller of apartments and villas in Dubai, Damac Properties, scored 2,098 off-plan transactions in 2019, up by 2 percent from the previous year. 

The real estate firm founded by Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani commanded 8.9 percent of the off-plan market last year.

Sajwani’s company owns and operates the only Donald Trump-branded golf course in the Middle East, the Trump International Golf Club that is part of Damac Hills, a 42-million-square-foot luxury residential community.

The third-biggest seller of off-plan residential units is Dubai Properties Group, which enjoyed 8 percent of the market last year. The developer registered 1,895 off-plan sales in 2019, up by 103.5 percent compared to 2018.

The member of the global investment company Dubai Holding Group has recently launched Madinat Jumeirah Living, a luxury community featuring freehold residences located just opposite Burj Al Arab in Jumeirah.

Taking the fourth spot in terms of market share and off-plan sales is Azizi Developments. The company secured 1,426 off-plan sales and enjoyed 6 percent of the market. The company has built properties in Meydan, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Healthcare City, Al Furjan, Studio City, Sports City and Downtown Jebel Ali.

Meraas, the company behind the latest landmarks like City Walk, La Mer, The Beach and Bluewaters, landed the fifth spot after registering 1,162 off-plan transactions last year. The company, which accounted for 4 per cent of the off-plan market, also posted a stellar sales performance in 2019, having posted a 528 percent increase in sales transactions.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

Cleofe.Maceda@refinitiv.com 

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© ZAWYA 2020