• Demand for villas and apartments in Ras Al Khaimah increasing exponentially • Luxury oceanfront properties, relaxed lifestyle, value for money, part of appeal | |
Benoy Kurien, Al Hamra Real Estate Development General Manager, has said that new projects have been the only way the company has been able to keep up with demand for properties at its flagship Al Hamra Village. His comments follow the ground-breaking for the real estate developer’s most recent project, Falcon Island, an exclusive AED1 billion development that combines unrivalled luxury with sustainable oceanfront living. “Analysts have forecast a slowdown in the property markets in the big cities, but there is no sign of any such slowdown at Al Hamra Village. All one-thousand villas are occupied and currently only 30 apartments are available on today’s market – out of 2,500. In fact, the only way we’ve been able to meet demand has been to build new homes, and even then, realistically, we are already looking at planning two steps ahead just to keep up.” Two of those steps include Bayti and Falcon Island, with occupancy rates and enquiries from people searching for a better quality among the factors behind the decision to build 118 ‘Bayti’ townhomes, and 150 Falcon Island villas and mansions that Mr Kurien says will be beyond comparison when the first residents start to move in next year. However, Mr Kurien says the current popularity of Al Hamra Village was foreseen some time ago. “Despite flattening rental rates in other emirates, we realised a while ago that people are looking to communities like Al Hamra Village in their search for a better quality of life, as well as value for money. For example, our villas continue to sell for under AED2 million, while rising rents prices continue to offer fantastic returns without being unreasonable.” A full sea view one bedroom apartment at Al Hamra Village now rents for AED42,000 a year, and a three bedroom villa on the golf course currently fetches AED90,000. Rental prices are also rising across the board and continue to outpace increases in the cost of purchasing homes at Al Hamra Village. Last year, the market price of villas increased by 22 percent based on previous years, and apartment prices also rose by 16 percent. “In spite of these increases, homes are selling fast and families are buying big villas for the same price as one bedroom apartments in the big cities. The expansion of highways 311 and 611 also means residents have the best of both worlds in terms of lifestyle, with Dubai just an hour’s drive, and the world’s busiest airport 45-minutes away. Healthcare, schools, and the diversity within the community are also part of the appeal,” he added. Al Hamra Village is home to over 60 nationalities, and while rental prices are expected to drop elsewhere in UAE, the limited supply of properties in the northern emirates is one of the key reasons why Head of Commercial of Al Hamra Real Estate Development, Barry Ebrahimy, believes the master-planned community will continue to buck the trend. “Al Hamra Village has become one to the most popular places to live in UAE because of the quality homes that are on the market, though these are in short supply. At the same time, we are creating a place where residents can access all the amenities they could possibly wish for; where convenience and luxury are a way of life. This is in contrast to the lifestyles many of our residents used to lead before relocating to Al Hamra Village.”
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RAK developer says it has had to build properties to keep up with demand
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