Buy a townhouse in Dubai for less than Dh1 million

Nshama, a Dubai-based developer, will be selling townhouses for less than a Dh1 million in its Town Square development, replicating the same marketing strategy adopted by Emaar Properties’ for its Mira project.

“We have done an extensive feasibility study. We found that people with Dh25,000 to Dh35,000 per month salary bracket are currently renting and would love to own a property and so what we did was we tried to fill this niche by building properties at an affordable price,” company Chief Executive Officer Fred Durie said after launching the project.

Starting prices for three-bedroom townhouses will be Dh999,988.

“Some initial units will be less than a Dh1 million and this puts it within the reach of this salary bracket… so we hope to fill the white space that we have identified. We won’t be able to do it completely but at least that’s the first step and something good for Dubai,” Durie added.

In 2013, Emaar, Dubai’ largest developer, priced a few Mira townhouses in Reem development, close to Arabian Ranches, for less than a million dirhams and had got a phenomenal response.

It was among the first Dubai townhouse projects to be sold out in matter of hours post the emirate’s property market recovering after the global financial slump.

Town Square, located at the intersection of Al Qudra Road and Emirates Road, will house over 3,000 townhouses (size 2,153 to 2,422 square feet), 18,000 apartments, 350 shops, one Vida hotel, parks, healthcare facilities, schools and cycling trails.

The cost of the entire project hasn’t been finalized yet, but the first 1,000 townhouses will cost Dh1 billion, which will be delivered in third and fourth quarter 2017. The entire project is planned for completion in a 10 year span.
 

The developer has signed up with Noor Bank, First Gulf Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank to provide mortgage facility.

In October 2014, Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties told Emirates 24|7 that one of its associate company will be launching an affordable housing project in the UAE “There is an internal discussion on Dawahi Development. We have an associate company that may be taking on that responsibility and I think they might be announcing something soon in the UAE,” he had said.

Read: Emaar unit to launch 'affordable housing' in the UAE

This website reported earlier that Dubai Properties and Danube Properties had launched projects in the affordable housing segment. Besides, Dubai Municipality has also allocated 10,000 residential units in its Dh30-billion Desert Rose master development for affordable housing for expatriates.

Though what constitutes “affordable” housing in Dubai is not been defined yet, Chestertons, a UAE-based real estate consultancy, believes properties in the price range of Dh400 to Dh600 per square foot fall in the “affordable” category. 

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