The Metropolitan Group’s flagship real estate companies, Dubai-based Metropolitan Premium Properties (MPP) and Abu Dhabi-based Metropolitan Capital Real Estate (MCRE), have registered a 400% increase in full-year property deals compared to the same period in 2020.
The company also saw its average transactions value more than double from $500,000 to over $1.1M last year with off-plan sales increasing five times while sales of secondary units showed a three-fold growth compared to 2020.
This strong performance is in line with Dubai’s real estate market which recorded as many as 84,772 transactions valued at Dh300 billion in 2021 according to data from the Dubai Land Department.
“Dubai had bounced back strongly from the pandemic and this level of sales was last seen in 2014. The government’s economic incentives, new residency visas, the EXPO 2020 and the world’s best vaccine roll-out programme have all resulted in attracting greater investor interest from around the world,” said Nikita Kuznetsov, Partner Metropolitan Group and CEO of Metropolitan Premium Properties.
The Group has seen a spike in the number of transactions for villas and townhouses, with a notable interest and high demand for waterfront/shoreline property. These two segments are very much in demand right now. Seafront properties are seen as secondary residences and investments whereas townhouses and villas are popular with Dubai residents who are looking for a forever home. Popular locations include Port De La Mer, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, JBR and Emaar Beachfront.
“Over the past few years, we have seen a high demand for luxury real estate from foreign investors. From our clients, we are seeing that 70% are purchasing for secondary homes and 30% for investment purposes. From our overseas customers, 30% are from the CIS, 30% from European countries, 20% from the GCC and 20% from the rest of the world. We expect this trend to continue this year as well,” added Mr. Kuznetsov.
The Group has also seen strong interest for luxury penthouses from UHNWI’s and one of the group’s biggest transactions last year was two penthouses located in the W Residence, Palm Jumeirah, which sold for AED 102 million to the same buyer in addition to a Royal Atlantis Garden Villa for AED 44 million and one in IL PRIMO Downtown for AED 42 million to a European buyer. The Group also recently sold AED 80 million worth of properties to Greek billionaire, Evangelos J. Pistiolis including the penthouse at the Atlantis The Royal Resort & Residences for AED 64 million making it one of the most expensive properties sold in Dubai last year.
In addition to MPP in Dubai and MCRE in Abu Dhabi, the Group also includes Luxury Immobilien GmbH, a real estate agency in Vienna and Metropolitan Consulting FZE, providing personal and business legal services in the UAE.
