Dubai: The ‘Expo City’ is becoming the go-to destination for buyers seeking out budget-friendly homes in Dubai.
In fact, Dubai’s newest offplan option – Expo City had its first releases in March – is already competing with the established Jumeirah Village Circle and Al Furjan in getting these investors. At Expo City’s Mangrove Residences, for instance, the listed prices are Dh1.39-Dh1.59 million for a one-bedroom, while a two-bedroom would be Dh2.05 million to Dh2.55 million.
The buyers get 7-year payment plans, with five years being post-handover.
“Expo City home prices to date are yet to see the heavy mark-ups that most locations elsewhere in Dubai have been seeing,” said an estate agent. “These are direct from the developer, have the proximity to the major legacy attractions of the Expo, and Expo City itself is being heavily promoted as Dubai’s newest place to live and work.
“The Mangrove Residences are a taster of what the location can offer later. Future releases will see that premium added.”
The master-developer is indeed taking a phased approach to the offplan launches, having also launched the ‘Expo Valley’ with its 3-/4-bedroom townhouses and 4-/5-bedroom villas.
““The payment plans are quite affordable,” said Ahmed Al Khatib, Chief Development and Delivery Officer of Expo City Dubai, during a recent media tour of the project. “Fifty per cent of the payment needs to be done before handover, and the remaining over the next five years.”
Dubai South benefits too
The attention garnered by Expo City is showing up favourably on property sales in the wider Dubai South area. “We are seeing prices rising – primarily because of offplan launches – of as much as 40 per cent,” said Sameer Lakhani, Managing Director at Global Capital Partners.
“Dubai South is becoming the new hub for residential developments not only in affordable segments, but in the upper-middle and premium brackets. The masterplan allows for a striation of offerings, and investors as well as end-users have responded.”
The price options too are helping in directing demand, with the per square foot (psf) values ranging from Dh650 to Dh1,200.
Heavy interest in sub-Dh2m homes
Dubai property market has just had one of its best first quarter showings ever. While a Dh410 million penthouse deal and, more recently, the priciest land deal for Dh125 million have absorbed much of the attention, there has been much happening in the sub Dh1 million and sub-Dh2 million categories. According to DXBInteract.com, 35 per cent of all home sales in Q1-2023 were for units under Dh1 million, while another 27 per cent went on those between DH1 million to Dh2 million. (Only 9 per cent went into properties above Dh5 million, but for obvious reasons, these transactions had the biggest visibility.)
Jumeirah Village Circle
JVC was the best performing area sales-wise in Q1-23, with the average value of properties sold during the period at Dh687,500, thus reinforcing the location’s affordability credentials. The average psf comes to Dh1,100, up by 16 per cent from a year ago.
The MBR City is another that’s doing well selling to the budget-conscious, with sales average of Dh1.4 million and a Dh1,800 per square feet, up 15.7 per cent.
