Branded residences have become one of the most talked-about sectors in Dubai real estate, with a report suggesting the emirate has the highest concentration of them across Europe and the Middle East, with some eye-watering prices cited for both ready and off-plan branded properties.
In May, luxury auto brand Bugatti revealed it was teaming up with UAE real-estate developer BinGhatti to create Sky Mansions, with a price tag of $204 million
This followed the sale of a Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab–branded apartment for $114 million just days earlier, which itself had broken the record for a ready apartment set by a Bulgari property on Jumeirah Bay Island for $33 million.
A Savills report showed that Dubai has the highest concentration of branded residence schemes in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), far outstripping the next largest market, London, with the number expected to increase by nearly 120% by 2030.
But who is buying these properties, which real-estate experts say outstrip their nonbranded counterparts in average price by nearly AED 1,000 ($272) per sq.ft.?
Ziad El Chaar, CEO of Dar Global, the London-listed global unit of Saudi Stock Exchange–listed Dar Al Arkan, said his organisation had sold such properties to 40 different nationalities and that the customers are high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in search of exclusivity.
Dar Global’s portfolio has a heavy emphasis on Italian luxury brands, forming partnerships with Missoni, Elie Saab, Pagani Automobili, Versace, Dolce&Gabbana, and Automobili Lamborghini, with developments in Dubai, Doha and Muscat as well as in Spain and Bosnia.
El Chaar said: “We see that the interest depends highly on the project, the brand involved, and its location.” The uptake was based on lifestyle choices, rather than nationalities, he said, with clients using the properties as one of two or more residences.
“Many of our clients opt to spend half their time in their home country and then continue to work in another city for the remaining part of the year; it’s a lifestyle that has evolved from the confines of the pandemic, especially with the flexibility of working from anywhere in the world,” he said.
Data from Morgan’s Realty’s latest branded residences report showed that there were 71 branded residence property schemes in Dubai as of the end of 2022, with 13 added during the year.
The average price of branded residences was AED 3,143 ($855.82) per sq.ft, compared to AED 2,221 per sq.ft. for a non-branded property.
Jumeirah Bay Island has the highest prices for branded residences, at AED 9,148 per sq.ft., compared to AED 3,893 per sq.ft for non-branded properties.
Relatively affordable branded properties have been sold in Jumeirah Village Circle for an average price of AED 1,215, the report said.
Nikita Kuznetsov, CEO of Metropolitan Premium Properties, said that the properties are popular with Italian investors, particularly those associated with Italian brands such as Cavalli and Bulgari.
He said the branded residence market had gained “significant traction” thanks to Dubai’s maturing luxury property market, noting as well that it had stayed resilient in the face of global uncertainty and change.
Another real-estate broker, Charlie Bannan, Director of Sales, haus & haus, cited data which shows that there have been surges from certain markets looking to purchase property in Dubai.
While Western European buyers overall have increased from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023 by 5.79%, there has been a much greater increase when it comes to individual nationalities.
German buyers increased year-on-year by 100%, Italians by 57.14% and British buyers by 28.81%, he said.
“Outside of Western Europe, we saw the highest increase in buyers from Ukraine (333.33%), Lebanon (300%), Russia (266.67%) and Australia (233.33%),” he said.
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
