THE PALM JUMEIRAH

The brain child of Master Developer Nakheel (one of the two main government property developers), was the 'Palm Trilogy'. Three palm shaped islands in ever increasing size - and visible from space, comprise of deluxe apartments, villas, marinas, hotels and leisure complexes. These, on completion, will offer an unrivalled lifestyle inclusive of all mod-cons where people can enjoy 'palm life'.

Property prices at the outset off-plan in 2001, were fairly moderate, around 3 million dirhams, approximately $800,000 ($1= 3.68 dhs) for a 4/5 bedroom villa directly on the beach with swimming pool, fully fitted kitchen, large living space, maids room (common here) and of course, all bedrooms en-suite. On completion in early 2007, the prices had skyrocketed. That same villa is now worth around 15,000,000 dirhams, that's five times the launch price in only 6 years! The rental prices are around 500,000 dirhams per year, making a tidy sum for those who got in early.

The whole of the Palm Jumeirah is now coming to fruition. Some of the first deluxe apartments to be completed were The Shoreline Apartments, 20 blocks lining the trunk of the Palm, with half located directly on the beach and the other half on the opposite side of the road facing The Golden Mile and Trump International Hotel and Tower Dubai, which has currently just begun construction. The Shoreline Apartments comprise of 1,2 and 3 bedrooms (either sea or road facing) plus a small number of 4 bedroom duplex penthouses, with stunning views of the Burj Al Arab Hotel and The Burj Dubai – the tallest building in the world. The price for a 2 bedroom sea facing is at least 4,500,000 dirhams. They were originally sold for around 800,000 dirhams.

It is a very new market, but the laws are tightening up all the time, and although a crash in prices is not expected, a leveling off is. Having said that, it is still an excellent investment, especially for some of the new Palm apartment projects just coming up to completion, including Tiara Residence, Oceana and Marina Residences. There are also some excellent upcoming projects, which will comprise of villas, apartments and a hotel and will be run as a resort by a 5 star hotel group, for example Kempinski and Fairmont have superb developments underway.

Obviously, investing in a property is a great way to bag yourself a resident’s visa. However, the initial offering has been monitored closely and the government is starting to make some changes.

When properties were first offered for sale in specifically assigned freehold areas, the owner would be granted the right to a resident's visa - being sponsored by the Master Developer i.e. Nakheel or Emaar. This appeared to be the case until recently, when it was stipulated by Nakheel that they were withdrawing the 'automatic' visa on purchase of a property. It was not stated why this had changed, one can only assume that it was being abused in some way, for example, a person buying a villa or apartment for their own use, would take the residency visa and then flip the property quickly (this was extremely common during the original property super boom - and continues on some developments.) The property could be sold on at a major profit, and possibly the residency not cancelled at the same time, giving some individuals an easy resident's visa status.

As it stands now (September 2008), it has not been confirmed whether any property purchase will come with an 'instant' residency visa in Dubai, although the neighboring Emirate of Ajman (around 45 minutes drive in good traffic) have confirmed that they will indeed grant a resident's visa on purchase of any property - no doubt to pick up the excess business from any people sitting on the fence, regarding the issuance or non-issuance of a visa, allowing unlimited stay and access to their property.

The main freehold areas which have been heavily invested in so far are Emaar projects;

The Springs – small 2 bedroom and increasingly larger 3 types of 3 bedroom townhouses. They are built around lakes in a community style, and have proved very popular with expat families of all nationalities, who are generally used to a smaller living space.

The Meadows is the higher end of this development offering 4 and 5 bedrooms. They are more expensive than The Springs, but still offer some good value in today’s market.

This is adjacent to The Lakes, again built in community style but viewed as slightly more upmarket as it has separate facilities to The Springs and Meadows.

And to complete the Emirates Living project, Emirates Hills itself, is built around the excellent Emirates Golf Club consisting of super luxurious villas of 7 bedrooms+. These are truly the top end of the market, and even though the property boom shows no sign of abating, these amazing villas have held their own against fierce competition and are being offered at a starting price of 40,000,000 dirhams.

The location of this community is excellent, being close to the beach, Dubai Media and Internet Cities (free zone office communities) and the main Sheikh Zayed Road.

There is a very similar development named ‘Arabian Ranches’, which has around 6 different styles of villas, some very large. Again, they are built around a golf course and have an excellent equestrian centre adjacent. This has proved exceedingly popular with British expats and is located further out of town off The Emirates Road, which is a large motorway, in what used to be the middle of the desert. It does have many excellent roads to get into town and direct access to Jumeirah takes around 20 minutes if no traffic is encountered. However, as is common place in Dubai, traffic is an issue. And with no viable public transport until the metro starts in 2009, the roads will continue to be heavily used by all.

Nakheel are the masters of the waterfront developments and have brought you The Palm Trilogy, The World (a cluster of super exclusive islands, which make up a map of the world (from aerial view) and are only accessible by sea or air, and also the newest addition - Dubai Waterfront . Conversely they have also addressed the other end of the property scale and offer some of the most reasonably priced apartments, including International City and Discovery Gardens.

For more information, visit www.nakheel.com and www.emaar.com

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