Emaar to release $11m land plots in ‘Beverly Hills of Dubai’

The emirate’s largest property firm is capitalising on soaring demand for luxury villas in Dubai’s most prestigious enclave   

Dubai’s Emaar Properties is expected to release nearly 20 rare new land plots for sale in the city’s most upmarket neighbourhood, Emirates Hills, several real estate agents have confirmed.

Dubbed the “Beverly Hills of Dubai” and home to billionaire entrepreneurs and celebrities, Emirates Hills is the city’s most sought after freehold property address, home to custom-built mansions on plots ranging between 12,000 and 45,000 square feet.

Property agents from six different companies told AGBI that 19 plots, each measuring about 30,000 square feet in size, will be available for sale in the prestigious community at a starting price of AED43 million ($11.71 million) per plot. 

The agents said that they did not know the official launch date when sales will begin, but they are currently in the process of generating and registering interest from buyers. Email campaigns and advertisements on property websites have also been marketing the plots this week.

“The second this [sale] goes live, it will book out,” said Mohit Bhojwani, sales consultant at Property Zone Real Estate, about Emirates Hills, where most homes overlook one of the development’s 17 lakes or lush green stretches of the Montgomerie Championship Golf Course.

Emaar, Dubai’s biggest listed property firm, declined to comment when contacted.

AED 43 million is a ‘good price’

Bhojwani called the expected AED43 million price point “a good price” and said the plot is expected to be offered with a payment plan from the developer.

“Price-wise you can’t go wrong because it’s Emirates Hills,” he added.

“Ultra-luxury is [currently] commanding its own price [and] people are ready to buy anything which is hot and exclusive.”

Bhojwani said he expects current Emirates Hills homeowners, including Indian entrepreneurs and those within their social circles, to show interest in the new plots as well as investors from overseas including Russians and Iranians.

Myles Bush, founding partner at brokerage Phoenix Homes which sold an AED102.8 million villa in Emirates Hills last week – the highest value deal in the community this year, and the opulent area’s second highest ever sale value – said that he expects prices in Dubai’s luxury property sector to continue rising and that prices in Emirates Hills have shot up by approximately 20 percent over the past year. 

At times prices change by a few days, at times it changes by the hour

Saleem Karsaz, group CEO of AEON and Trisl Real Estate

“Some golf course-facing houses have sold for 25 percent more,” he said. 

“There’s a huge shortage of supply at the moment in Emirates Hills. Typically when a house comes onto the market, it’s usually sold within four to six weeks – provided it is sensibly priced.”

Bush called the recently sold AED102.8 million mansion “reasonably priced”.

Sold by a Maltese businessman to an Indian entrepreneur, the sprawling estate spans some 38,000 square feet and features floor-to-ceiling windows, five huge bedrooms, a private cinema, swimming pool and gym.

“It’s true it’s a lot of money but it’s all relative when you take into consideration the land size, the built up area and the materials used,” Bush said. 

Bush said that luxury features seen in Emirates Hills include gold-plated bathtubs, imported crystal chandeliers, indoor bowling alleys, an indoor ice skating rink and rooftop terraces with private shisha lounges.

Cross-border opulence 

Bush said his clients in Emirates Hills are also currently scouting properties in prime locations in London including Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Belgravia.

“I sell a lot of property in London to my Emirates Hills clients and I sell a lot of villas in Emirates Hills to my London clients,” he said. 

“The general perception [in London] at the moment is that Dubai has still got further growth in it. I’ve got some clients [in London] who are searching for their next home and they only want to be in Emirates Hills. And a lot of my Emirates Hills clients want a trophy asset in London.”

Prices change by the hour

Saleem Karsaz, group CEO of AEON and Trisl Real Estate, said that selling prices for Emirates Hills villas sometimes change by the hour due to the high demand.

“Unfortunately, in the last six months we’ve had seven sales come to the point of near-closing and the seller [received] a higher offer,” he said.

“At times [prices] change by a few days, at times it changes by the hour – that’s the speed prices are increasing.”

Property Zone’s Bhojwani added that sellers have been backing out despite some buyers offering more than the asking price.

“Sometimes you find the dream house and it doesn’t work out because the seller is playing around,” Bhojwani said. “If there are three buyers for the same house, people are willing to pay a few million extra because they just want the house.

“We go through this rollercoaster a lot. It’s a wave of emotions and it’s stressful. Right now it’s a seller’s market.”

No sign of slowdown

Emaar Properties recorded an increase in net profit of 241 percent to AED2.239 billion ($610 million) for Q1 2022, compared to a net profit of AED657 million ($179 million) in Q1 2021, as property sales surged 17 percent.

Bush said he believes that prices in Emirates Hills will continue to rise but that sellers, although at a great advantage, must still be realistic in their expectations.

“At the moment, the general sentiment is that prices are going to continue to go up and sellers don’t want to give their houses away,” he said. 

Asked why wealthy owners of the envy-inspiring residences were selling their properties and what better address they might move to, Bush said the variety of reasons included wanting to “free up cash”, relocation to a different country or wanting to shift to a different size of home.

Creative Commons

Who’s who of Emirates Hills residents

Some of the illustrious business tycoons, politicians and celebrities who have reportedly lived in Emirates Hills over the years

• Benazir Bhutto
  Pakistan’s assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto, her husband Asif Ali Zardari, and children reportedly spent a decade living in their Emirates Hills home
• Jacob Zuma
  Former South African president Jacob Zuma has reportedly lived in an Emirates Hills mansion bought for him by India’s wealthy Gupta brothers
• Robert Mugabe
  The late former president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe was reportedly a close neighbour to former South African president Jacob Zuma. The dictator died in 2019 at the age of 95 and is said to have left a $1 billion property empire, including homes in Dubai where his sons lived at one point
• Gaynor Scott
  British expat Gaynor Scott who featured in BBC2 documentary Inside Dubai: Playground of the Rich was born in Stoke-on-Trent. But after marrying one of the wealthiest businessmen in the Channel Islands, she splits her time between Jersey and Emirates Hills
• Raj Sahni
  Businessman Raj Sahni is one of the many Indian entrepreneurs with an Emirates Hills address. The chairman and CEO of Raj Sahni Group International previously made headlines when he purchased a prestigious single digit vehicle number plate for AED33 million, costing much more than the Rolls Royce it was placed on 
• Rizwan Sajan
  Indian entrepreneur Rizwan Sajan is founder and chairman of Danube Group, one of the largest building materials companies in the Gulf. Sajan’s seven-bedroom Emirates Hills home reportedly includes a 22-seater cinema, spa, game room and a nine-metre-long aquarium
• Sunil Vaswani
  Indian-born Nigerian billionaire businessman Sunil Vaswani is chairman of the Dubai-headquartered Stallion Group. The group’s businesses span commodities trading, frozen foods and auto dealerships including Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi and Nissan. His Emirates Hills mansion reportedly features an exotic-bird-filled aviary, a bowling alley, a nightclub, an automatic car wash, and an outdoor singing bar frequented by the likes of Lionel Ritchie