Hundreds of buyers scrambled to snap up luxury homes on the largest of Dubai’s palm-shaped islands where villas are going for 10 times the price of when the project was launched — but never built — two decades ago.
Brokers and investors queued in 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius) heat from 6 a.m. on Wednesday outside Nakheel PJSC’s sales center where the government-backed developer is selling hundreds of five-to-seven bedroom villas on the undeveloped Palm Jebel Ali — about 50 kilometers from downtown Dubai. Homes start at 18.7 million dirhams ($5.1 million), while the cheapest plots of land are selling for about 40 million dirhams.
Armed with check-books, brokers — many representing buyers from Russia and India — pleaded with staff to let them into Nakheel’s heavily-guarded offices at the base of the city’s first and most famous man-made island, Palm Jumeirah. One employee handed out water and paper towels to the crowd.
Dubai is reviving the Palm Jebel Ali project years after it was halted as the emirate seeks to cash in on an influx of newcomers, which ended a seven-year property slump and pushed prices to record levels. The luxury end of the market, in particular, has seen a spectacular reversal with the city soaring to the top spot of global rankings in the second quarter for transactions of homes valued at $10 million or above, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
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