
Global and local Dubai’s real estate and tourism industries are waiting impatiently for the new law regulating so-called timeshare industry, a special type of a property joint ownership and maintenance. It is expected that the presentation of the Law will create a positive impact in the industry bringing up to USD 3.8 billion to the Dubai’s economy before 2020.
What is timeshare? It suggests that one or more common property owners will have the right to live in their apartment or villa for a certain period of time during a year, actually shaing it (usually during a period from one to three months a year per one owner), and the rest of time the property will be leased by managing organization, which the owner/s will entrust this right or by that, which has built the house and manages residential community. Thus, such property will bring high capital and rental yields to its owner/s, and at the same time the unit will become a part of a city's hospitality stock.
Timeshare schemes became especially popular in Dubai in recent years, the sector growing by 15-30% every year, and today, according to the report by AFH (a company that is engaged in this type of activity), the demand for housing under this scheme tends to significantly exceed the number of offers.
Timeshare is both popular among tourists wishing to stay in comfortable apartments, and also among investors wanting a) to buy a second home for themselves, and b) to get some rental yields. According to the latest Travellers' Choice Destinations 2016 rating by TripAdvisor, Dubai’s joined the 25 most popular global vacation destinations.
At the same time the IMF forecasts that Dubai's economy will face a period of "rapid growth" in the run-up to Expo 2020, with annual growth rate of 5%, which won’t take long to impact the real estate and hospitality sectors.
"Many aspiring property owners in the emirate are being priced out of the second home or vacation home market. For such people, who visit Dubai on a regular basis and stay in one of the hundreds of hotels around the city, an investment in timeshare makes perfect financial sense," said Mohannad Sharafuddin from AFH.