Dubai has held its first online property auction on the eMart initiative recently launched by the Dubai Land Department.
Officials said the auction witnessed “fierce competition between bidders” over the 17 residential and commercial properties put up on offer.
A statement said the online portal received more than 1,100 visits in the early hours of the first day of bidding.
It added that there was a “high interest among real estate investors” without disclosing any specific information about the bids or the properties involved.
Sultan Butti bin Mejren, director general of Dubai Land Department, said: “With the launch of eMart auctions, we are now one step further, in line with our strategic plan, to be at complete harmony with the directives of the government in transition to a smart city.”
eMart represents a new era for real estate sales in Dubai and are the first government-backed online auctions held in the emirate.
eMart was launched last month as “a simple and convenient exchange centre” for private and public real estate information.
The Dubai Land Department said that the new portal would “guarantee transparency and credibility in all data”.
Some estimates suggest that real estate prices in prime areas in the emirate have risen by up to 30 percent in 2013 to date, after falling by over 60 percent from their 2008 peak.
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