
When it comes to off-plan launches, Dubai's developers have reached a peak, according to a Gulf News report.
In fact, some estimates reckon that this April and May have been the busiest two-month period for launches since the property market picked up in mid-2011.
The numbers have stacked up because of the ‘affordable-tagged’ launches from Nshama — with its Town Square development — and the latest one from MAG Properties in Dubai World Central. The pipeline of high-end property launches has been just as active, with private developers such as Cayan, Palma (featuring Emirates Towers designer Hazel Wong as the architect) and RP Global making a strong play for the luxury space.
The launch rush could be prompted by the imminent start of Ramadan (due by the second fortnight of June) and then followed by the Eid break as well as that for summer.
But are there enough buyers to pick up all the new rooms and villas coming out of developers’ drawing boards? The affordable ones are generating maximum interest — no surprises there as developers offer incentives such as longer drawn out payment plans — but some of the luxury offerings too are finding takers with ready money on hand.
“Off-plan launches by government-related entities as well as private developers have systematically been at prices lower than the ones prevailing in the secondary markets, by as much as 20 per cent,” said Sameer Lakhani, managing director at Global Capital Partners. “This has elicited a strong response in the primary market, even as prices have softened in the secondary markets, albeit at a gradual level.”