Off plan property sales 'dead' - real estate MD

OFF PLAN: A Dubai real estate expert has said that off plan sales are now dead amid a lack of investor confidence. (Getty Images)

Off-plan property sales are ‘dead’ and prices continue to slide, Mohanad Alwadiya, managing director of property adviser Harbor Real Estate has said.

While he said there were signs of stablisation of completed properties in areas such as downtown Dubai and the Palm Jumeirah, Alwadiya said investors lacked confidence in the off-plan market, where prices have slid up to 50 percent since the emirate’s property collapse last September.

“In some areas, mainly in off-plan, prices continue to drop. This is natural,” he told Dubai Eye radio in an interview.

“Confidence levels in off-plan projects is very low. Off-plan sales are almost dead,” he added.

On a brighter note, Alwadiya said his company had seen 45 percent more buyer queries in the second quarter, than in the first quarter.

Property consultant Colliers International said house prices in Dubai fell 41 percent and 9 percent in the first and second quarters in 2009.

Dubai-based Harbor Real Estate offers property advisory services to individual and institutional investors.

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READERS' COMMENTS

credibles still selling
Posted by Zara, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 23 August 2009 at 14:25 UAE time

If you doubt that there are still off plan units being sold, check out British owened developer The First Group, with its aggressive and quite alternative marketing campaign, celebrity sports stars and hotel salespeople.

They are still nabbing the tourists and manage to make them part with a substancial deposit on the very same day. The company reassures even the most cynical and savvy investors and although sales may have slowed from the heyday of early 2008, off plan sales they are by no means dead.

Off plan fraud.
Posted by Paul, Northern Ireland on Friday 14 August 2009 at 00:42 UAE time


Buying off plan now has so many risks.Builders take so much money from purchasers,and then bully the purchaser around for years.

Many purchasers who bought in Dubai received apts/villa's no where near the standard they though they would be.

Why would any person now buy an offplan unit after the the mess builders have left purchasers in.

Owners of units in Dubai Marina,sold as 5 STAR are getting together to gut out new apts to make them livable.

Better to see them finished before paying,and decide what their value are.That is what is now happening and has been caused by poor building work,the prices will get lower and lower until purchasers get a deal.

With the current law, there is no future for off-plan properties
Posted by Scary off-plan customer on Tuesday 11 August 2009 at 16:04 UAE time


Law No (9) of 2009 Amending Certain Provisions of
Law No (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Real Estate Register in the Emirate of Dubai clearly states in
Article (ii) d. in case of projects where at construction has not yet commenced for reasons beyond the Developer’s control without any negligence or omission on its part, the Developer may revoke the contract and deduct up to 30% of the total amounts paid by the Purchaser.
So which Purchaser will buy a off-plan property knowing very well that he will lose 30% of his payment if the developer defaults and on whom he has no control. Instead, the purchase will prefer to look only at ready properties and avoid this risk.

Off-Plan mayhem!!
Posted by Punky Brewster, Dubai on Tuesday 11 August 2009 at 15:10 UAE time


I feel sorry for people stuck w/ off-plan purchases. It could be greed, it could be hedging their future, but in the end, single unit purchasers were the ones to go through this headache. NOW, the government, which has been QUITE about all this, in a way, HAS to step in and do JUSTICE, not by ADMITTING their mistakes, but atleast by putting the LAW into practice, saying no one should be duped by ANY Developer. I hope they do something soon, because their POSITIVE actions favoring the Buyers will DEFINITELY bring about a change in confidence levels in Property Investments in the UAE. Fingers crossed!!!!

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