Dubai to hold three-day property sales

Majida Ali Rashid, Assistant Director-General of Dubai Land Department; Sultan Butti Bin Mejren; and Dawood Al Shezawi announce details of the Dubai Property Festival in Dubai on Monday.

Dubai is set to host a property festival from April 9 to 11 which will be a one-stop-shop for real estate stakeholders. End-users and investors can interact with developers, brokerages, banks, property auction houses and legal consultants at the event to be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The umbrella event (Dubai Property Festival) will include the International Property Show, a mega property sale, property auctions, investor roundtables, workshops and seminars. It will also be co-located with the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM).

Organised by the Dubai Land Department (DLD), the event will be a win-win for end-users and investors. They stand to benefit since developers will offer discounted prices, low down payment and lower registration fee while banks will offer no processing fees, no service fees, onsite pre-approval of mortgages and low interest rates.

Individuals and developers will also auction 'distressed' properties, both online and on-site. Auctions will allow a large pool of buyers to capitalise on local distress deals. Brokers will show an inventory of deals with best rates from developers.

Dawood Al Shezawi, head of the DPF organising committee, said: "While Cityscape is a B2B show, this show is targeted more at consumers. We will register properties on site and educate developers on how to reduce prices. Overseas developers can participate as well. But we won't force them to give offers. We will sit with developers and agree on a minimum percentage of discounts they should offer. No local developer can participate without offering discounts."

Sultan Butti bin Mejren, director-general of DLD, said: "To encourage new buyers and investors to the real estate sector, the DPF will provide everyone with the right environment for choosing the best properties, finding the best prices and making the best deals with real estate brokers and developers. The festival will be an annual event."

Ranjeet Chavan, managing partner, Gulf Sotheby's International Realty: "The initiative will add some sort of activity during the first half of the year since we have the International Property Show and Cityscape during the latter half. We will participate in the Property Festival and work with developers and structure some offers."

Chavan expressed confidence in the Dubai property market's fundamentals. "The market's fairly stable. There is no issue of oversupply. Focus has shifted to affordable housing which is where most developers are focusing. Global sentiment is, however, weak," he added.

Atif Rahman, director and partner, Danube Properties, said: "We needed a catalyst for the property market in the first half of the year. Since the festival is endorsed by the Dubai property regulator, we will have peace of mind."

"All of us need to come up with a creative solution. The DLD can act on the registration fees, banks can lower interest rates and down payment for mortgages, developers have to come up with a good pricing and brokers can compromise on their commission. If all stakeholders compromise, we can come up with a good solution," explained Faris Saeed, CEO of Diamond Developers.

Speaking of what MAG Property Development would offer at the event, CEO Talal Al Gaddah said: "Developers need to know what the market wants. The market today needs a strategy to support end-users to invest."

- deepthi@khaleejtimes.com

Deepthi Nair

deepthi@khaleejtimes.com