Dh1.23 trillion projects planned in Dubai, residential at Dh244 billion

Projects under planning in Dubai are valued at $337.2 billion (Dh1.23 trillion), with the total value of projects under construction at $53.6 billion, reveals a new report.

The Deloitte and Meed Project’s report, “The Dubai Construction Pulse”, which analyses the construction market across a range of sectors, found the majority of the current or planned development are within the residential sector, estimated at $66.4 billion (Dh243.68 billion). This includes projects either in the execution or the planning stages.

Residential sales prices fell towards the end of the year in 2015 by nearly 10 per cent with prices likely to continue to soften this year as well.

Though real estate experts have predicted a slowdown in property deals, Dubai Land Department Director-General Sultan Butti Bin Mejren told ‘Emirates 24|7’ this week that the emirate had registered total real estate deals worth Dh68 billion in just 53 days of this year, referring to stability in the market.

Read: Dubai property market ‘thriving’: Dh68 billion deals in 53 days

Total development activity within the hospitality and leisure sector is estimated at $21.2 billion made up of projects in the execution and the planning stages.

Dubai is aiming to attract 20 million visitors per year by 2020, according to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. Growth in international overnight visitors since 2010 averaged 9.2 per cent per year, and if this rate of growth continues, the 20 million target will most likely be met. 

The report predicts that growth may be modest in 2016, with occupancy levels down to at 70-75 per cent during the year.

In the retail sector, the total development is estimated at $15.33 billion. Growth will be flat this year, however, the emirate’s status as a leading retail destination globally will remain.

The total activity within the commercial sector is expected at $9.1 billion with a number of additional projects to be announced in prime locations which includes the Dubai International Financial Centre.

The report states that these are “significant amounts of investment for most mature economies, but for an emerging market such as Dubai, they are extraordinary figures which provide evidence of Dubai’s increasingly diversified economy.”

“Despite regional security concerns and wider macro-economic turbulence, Dubai continues at pace with significant project awards in the first quarter 2016, including the Palm Gateway Towers, Phase II of the Atlantis Resort and Dubai Creek Harbour to name but three”, said Ben Hughes, director at Deloitte Corporate Finance Limited.

Major projects announced in the first months of 2016 include $840-million phase II of Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah, $380-million Palm Gateway Towers, $370-million ICD Brookfield Place and $190-million Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

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