Strength in numbers

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Private water villas at Aquitainia.

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As a combined group, between Select Property and Select Group - in the current tricky climate - we're worth a lot more than most other private developers in Dubai," he stresses.

"Whereas most of them buy land, outsource the contract, outsource the sales or have a small sales function, everything that we do, we do in-house. From the marketing and the creative side of it, all the way through to selling it, all the way through the contract process and the after-sales process," he explains.

In fact, according to Stott, Select Property has a 30-strong after-sales and contract team, who are employed to deal solely with customers who have already made a purchase through the network.

"Between Select Group and Select Property we have everything, so at a time like this when everyone's tightening their belts, we're probably more profitable an entity between the two companies," he says.

Although many people in the Middle East have been quick to attribute the recent shift in Dubai's property market to the global credit crunch, Bahl believes much of the slowdown in sales can be explained by recently imposed regulations.

"The market in the UAE is currently going through a transition and some possible correction in property prices. The transition is due to regulatory processes being introduced by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), thereby streamlining the buying and selling procedures for property transactions," he explains.

However, Bahl stresses the correction in prices is more to do with property being valued realistically.

Strong foundations

Stott is confident Select Property and partner Select Group- led by CEO Rahail Aslam- will continue along the same successful path, though suggests some other developers may not be able to keep the pace.

"For us, the beauty of it is that a couple of companies which haven't got strong foundations won't be around. There are other companies like us who have got good strong foundations, but there'll be less of us in the market place and it'll come back very strong," he stresses.

According to Stott, the next few months will be painful for the property industry, though ultimately the UAE will be better-off for it.

"I genuinely see this as an opportunity for companies with foundations, and I do think it will relieve the market of the people who are smash-and-grab merchants," he says.

Investor shift

Although his views seem mostly positive surrounding the UAE, it appears Stott will still exercise a degree of caution over the next year when it comes to expansion plans.

"We won't be buying land in either of those places in the next 12 months, but I guarantee you we'll be expanding in Dubai and the rest of the UAE in the next 12 months," he explains.

Although, he adds, any land acquisitions made by Select Property and Select Group will not take place until at least the second-quarter of 2009.

Anticipating a fresh lack of speculative land buyers in the UAE, Stott believes prices will be more realistic.

"The people who are real developers will continue to buy land and the speculators won't be able to, because a lot of them will have had their fingers burnt by this. They won't be in the market driving the prices up and I believe the Dubai government wants that," he says.

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