propertyfinder.ae sums up real estate news in the last week:
Damac considers U.S. opportunities
Damac Properties is considering opportunities in U.S. cities such as Los Angeles or New York as its next step into international markets. It was in the middle of last year that the Dubai-headquartered developer announced a project in London, its first outside the Middle East since 2008-09.
It is also in the market for additional upscale projects in London, Damac’s Chairman Hussain Sajwani said. “Why would anyone think that our presence in London is a one-off and just to show the world we are there,” Sajwani added.
“After the global financial crisis, we decided not to invest further in the Middle East markets, due to political reasons. Instead, we shifted focus outside the region.
“There will be multiple projects in London and the aim is to become one of the serious players in that market. We have such a significant database of 30,000 high-income customers from all the properties we have sold in Dubai and the Gulf.
“Many of them bought into our first London project. And there are many who are doing so at the roadshows we have held and had never even heard of Damac before.
“The next step could take us to gateway cities in the US — I would love to do that.”
The Chairman confirmed that future London projects would be done on its own. “Joint ventures involving us financing is not on the agenda. If other developers are involved, it will be limited to the land they might be holding,” he concluded.
Dubai property deals up to AED1.5 billion in 1 day
Dubai registered real estate transactions worth of AED1.472 billion from 170 deals on Thursday, in another indication that investor momentum is starting to build up again in the sector. This is one of the largest daily transactions registered with the Dubai Land Department in the recent past.
Monday’s transaction levels were above AED600 million, while the following two days saw values of AED270 million plus each. Thus Thursday’s volumes of AED1.4 billion are certainly not par for the course.
Details are not available as to the split between freehold and non-freehold related registrations for the March 24 total. But in recent weeks all of Dubai’s prime freehold clusters have been seeing an improvement in sales activity. In those locations where a gain is yet to be seen, the pace of decline in buying has started to stabilise.
Construction to 1/JBR starts
Dubai Properties has confirmed the start of construction of its flagship 1/JBR project.
It said that construction started with site mobilising and enabling works by the end of January. The final design has been completed and it is in the final stage of approval with the authorities.
The project is located at the entrance to Jumeirah Beach Residence and will offer panoramic sea views.
The registration of clients and customers with the intent of purchasing was launched in September 2015, and the tower is set for completion and handover in early 2019.
It features 2, 3 and 4-bedroom apartments and 5-bedroom penthouses, spread across 46 floors, with a total of 153 units.
