Strength in numbers

As property prices continue to decline, Mark Stott, CEO of real estate agent-turned-developer Select Property, explains why he's still feeling confident in his company and business partner Select Group.

Last week, Standard Chartered predicted growth in the UAE will slow to 2.7% in 2009, while property prices on Nakheel's Palm Jebel Ali were reported by Arabian Business to have fallen by as much as 40% in the last two months alone.

With headlines like these increasingly cropping up, developers and investors alike could perhaps be forgiven for feeling a little on edge.

One person who appears quite the opposite of uneasy is Mark Stott, CEO of UK-based real estate agent-turned-developer, Select Property.

"I think Dubai will bounce very, very quickly. I don't think the money is gone, I think people are just sitting on their hands," he says.

His company, Select Property, began selling property in Dubai four and a half years ago in partnership with Select Group, a Dubai-based developer. Since then, Select Property has been responsible for the sales of every project by the developer, as well as branching into development through a number of joint ventures with its partner.

Maintaining sales

The product of these joint ventures - which, according to Stott are worth a total US$3bn - includes the recently launched Aquitainia resort on The World project, and Pacific, a residential development on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah.

Prior to becoming involved with developing, Select Property was responsible for the sales and marketing of projects such as Bay Central, The Torch, The Point and Botanica.

"They're all sold out, we've sold them all," he says.

Though how easy will it be to keep selling-out buildings considering the current global climate?

"We've sold to clients from 57 different countries. We have an unusual method, 90% of our UK sales that we do from the UK office - which is everything outside of the Middle East, all the deals we do to the States and Russia - are sold over the telephone," says Stott. Despite never meeting most of the investors, Stott explains most of Select Property's sales are of properties in Dubai.

"We've been selling property in Turkey for about six months, but it's probably 2% or maybe 3% of our sales, while 97% of our sales are still Dubai and the UAE."

Even though he is currently in talks regarding expansion into northern Brazil, Stott believes the vast majority of sales would still come from the UAE, weighing in at around 80% of the company's total business.

Though it has sold property in Turkey, these were not developed by the company or its partner Select Group. Select Property was commissioned to undertake sales for another developer, and happily got onboard as means of investigating the Turkish market further.

Akhilesh Bahl, director of international operations at Dubai-based real estate agency Thinkspace, also believes the time is right for exploring the idea of expansion into other markets.

Market transition

"The leading developers already have their presence established in quite a few international markets and will probably continue to do so. As for further expansion, there are quite a few interesting deals emerging and waiting to be tapped into," he says.

However, Bahl places emphasis on the need for developers and investors considering this move to think realistically about their financial standing.

"The focus for investors and developers alike would be to align their strategies to the fundamentals of these markets and take a hard look at their cash reserve positions before going on a spree."

It seems another big secret to Stotts success and a key contributor to his confidence, is the in-house services run by Select Property.

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