Top 5 Areas to Invest in Dubai Real Estate (2025 and Beyond)

Welcome to season 4 of The Dubai Connect podcast. Actually, I should say welcome back GG Benitez for season 4 in Dubai. It was a long season without you. Yes, yes, we missed you. I don't think you appreciated me doing season 3 in San Diego. I definitely appreciate you now. I'm so glad you finally made it here. Thank you. It has been an incredible several months since I've been here last and we have learned so much. We have gone through so much with the North American buyers, right. One of the questions that is asked over and over again by our investors: what are the top areas to invest in now in Dubai? We've had one of the best years this year. Yes, mission accomplished. Thank you, God. As you have noticed, the dynamics of the market keeps changing every year in Dubai, even more than every year actually. Let's go back. It's actually every three months, I would say. Exactly, because we did this episode and it's actually one of our most watched episodes, but that is not the same as it was six months ago. Correct, because there were too many projects and communities to focus on at that time. There's no stopping, the demand has been so high, and we broke another record this year. Developers keep launching to meet up with the demand. The projects are the same, the communities are still the same, but now these communities are starting to grow larger and larger. There's no stopping. I think some of these communities where we will talk about today, I think we will see projects launching over there for the next three, four, or ten years depending on which ones we're going to talk about. You know, to that point, I think we should back it up a little bit and talk about how do you and I even get to the point of suggesting to our investors what are the top areas to invest in. What are the parameters that you and I look at? One of the most important things obviously for our investors, especially from the US, is that they're looking for something at the moment they cannot see in the US. Number one is the capital appreciation that they will gain here. Number two is the rental ROI, which we've seen is extremely weak in the US. Third is Airbnb, how easy is it to Airbnb? It's becoming more and more difficult all around the world, by the way. Exactly, not just the US. Europe, Spain, where I just visited. Canada is having some serious issues where they are actually blacklisting certain communities in order not to allow Airbnb. These are some of the most important factors that people are looking at. Then obviously they depend on us to advise them which developer to follow in order to get all of those benefits. I'm going to add one more huge parameter that we take into consideration, and that goes with the security. Is it in line with the vision of the 2040 plan? There you go, right. Why does that matter to an investor? Because that means infrastructure, correct. Government support, low risk, high potential outcome. Each of the five areas that we'll talk about today, and obviously it's not just five areas, right. Of course it's not. We want to condense it right now, and it's constantly dynamic. We know that, of course, because at the end of the day you don't want that many options and choices. If you put so many options in front of our clients, especially who has never been to Dubai, it makes it very difficult for them to choose. So we present five to six, but then we like to narrow it down to the top three based on their target. Keeping in mind that everyone that has come to us has come with a different goal in mind and a budget and timeline. Right, and that matters as well. Okay, very good. So now let's dive into what are the top areas that we have been talking about right now for the rest of 2024 and potentially the beginning of 2025 until we are able to come back together and discuss this. The projects or the communities that we prefer is not necessarily the top four or five for everybody else in Dubai. In Dubai, when the data is out for the highest number of sales of a certain community or a project, it's not necessarily based on the top developers or the most popular in demand project. Our favorite since Waterfront locations have been the most in demand properties, especially since COVID. That's why most of the developers are starting to look for land closer to the coastline. Which one is our favorite coastline? The entire stretch starting from Maritime, Rashid Yachts Marina, all the way to Dubai Islands. That trio is so beautiful. The fact that all three of them again are in line with the 2040 plan are being connected, right. We just sold one of the last units available in Maritime to our American client four days ago. Maritime, the way it's laid out, I describe it kind of like South Beach in Miami, where it's that strip of frontline unobstructed high-rises. Those high-rise apartments, correct. We know that there's going to be more behind them. Those are going to be low-rises. Well, we're not sure if they're going to be commercial or residential, correct. But I don't know if it was 27 plots, but all of them have been launched already and sold out very successfully. The price per square foot compared to when we sold our first at 600 Dirhams per square foot, today you're looking at 3,000 Dirhams per square foot. Is that insane? I mean, and that was our first sale that we did together with an American. It was at Maritime. What a vision, right. Yes, and then when you look at Maritime, which I have an entire other video dedicated, so someone can dive in to really look at that masterplan of Maritime City, then it's going to connect, right. When we walked along a beautiful waterfront the other day, it's a stretch of almost 15 to 20 kilometers connecting from Maritime, then it goes downwards to Rashid Yachts Marina. You continue driving further down it will hit you towards Dubai Islands. I would really call that a golden mile, just like we have in Palm Jumeirah they call it the Golden Mile. To me I think that will be the next Golden Mile. Maritime, that's it sold out, except for any cancellations. But keep a lookout for what's going to happen in Dubai Islands and be ready with your EOIs because they will be sold out, yes. Rashid Yachts and Marina by Emaar, none other than Emaar, the biggest developer, the most trusted developer. It's going to be limited quantity. What I love when we always describe this is that when someone's investing in Port Rashid Yachts and Marina, it's not about the views like Maritime, right. It's about the amenities and the communities and that whole strip of ultra luxury restaurants and shops and that Marina and the yachts that are going to be there. It's going to be like Monaco, the Monte Carlo of the Middle East. Correct. There are going to be upcoming launches, so stay tuned. We know that because it's Emaar. Yes, they sell out before launch day. Before launch date, yes. This is where an EOI is probably one of the most important strategies for our investors to secure a prime unit. And then like you said, it's going to connect to Dubai Islands. Now there's a lot of buzz, as you could see now that you're here, because they just recently, a couple of weeks ago, had launched one of their first phases. What makes Dubai Islands so unique? It's by Nile Dubai Holding. It's five islands. One of them is Central Island, the other one is Gulf Island. Then you have Elite Island, you have Shore Island, and the final one is Marina Island. Good for you for remembering all five of those things. Most of your viewers should know that the Central Island was actually sold to different developers. They were like different plots. It's not just one, exactly. Central Island, which is Island A, different plots were sold to different developers such as boutique developers. And there will be no high-rise residential building over there, so that's a plus point. It will have both mixed use of commercial and retail. They're having one of their malls being built right there. Do not quote me on this, but for right now what we know is that Nile will have the rest of the four islands exclusive to itself. They're coming up with an 18-hole golf course and a nine-hole golf course on one of those islands. Nile is trying to create not just a community but they literally want to create a lifestyle. They no longer want people from Dubai to travel to Maldives. They want people to have that Maldives experience in one of their islands. You have almost 84 hotels and resorts that will be coming out there, 21 kilometers of private beach. Both of those go in line with the 2040 plan of adding more hotels to be able to accommodate that growing tourist destination, yes, right, correct. And then the beach and green spaces because that's also part of the urbanization and the master plan. What you were saying of Dubai's master plan and the government's strategic effort to make it so people that live here, within 20 minutes they have access to a Metro or somewhere that can give them access to a green space, a park, that lifestyle, to really make it a better quality of life. Which is actually one of the initiatives of the government. The other thing about this whole area that I find interesting is it's in Dara, correct, and actually the old Dubai. Yes, yes, and the Sheik's actual vision includes mirroring the old culture of the Middle East with new, innovative, beautiful destinations. You keep a little bit of that old-world style there. It's very strategic. The majority of people in Dubai live closer and work closer to that area. When we're thinking about how does this matter for our investors, right, it's not just about having a second home. People are buying here, but it's about people that are working in the business hub of Dubai, in downtown. Because of the infrastructure and the infinity bridge and all the bridges that are being built and the connectivity, it's going to be I think a 15-minute drive if I'm correct, correct. So those people that want that waterfront living and what are the prices per square foot right now for Dubai Islands? Dubai Islands they're selling anywhere from 1,800 per square foot starting in Central Island all the way up to which Nile had recently launched, somewhere around 2,300 per square foot. It's important to note, and I did another video on this as well, if we look first of all, there's only so much waterfront destination in Dubai. We know that Dubai has to start building inland. The coastline is pretty much done, dealt with. That's it. One of the reasons we decided to move towards the older side of Dubai. If you follow the trend and trajectory and you actually can analyze what happened with Blue Waters with Jumeirah Emaar Beachfront, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Lake Towers, correct. We go through the projections of what's going to happen to these limited last spots that are left that are waterfront coastline in Dubai. The opportunity to invest is now to get in at these prices per square foot and have not only the capital appreciation projections but not only long-term, I mean short-term rentals of course, but also the long-term for people that want that waterfront living. We know historically that waterfront properties are more desirable. That's what happened with Emaar Beachfront. Emaar Beachfront, they started off at almost close to 1,700 to 2,000 Dirhams per square foot. Today you're looking at anywhere around 5 to 6,000 Dirhams per square foot. Just to let you know, Rashid Yachts and Marina's total budget of spend needed to build that area is roughly around 27 billion Dirhams, which is one of their most expensive compared to even Emaar Beachfront. That's why we keep telling our investors why Rashid Yachts and Marina is so unique and such a great investment right now at these current prices. We went through the community the other day. What they're creating over there is something they were not able to create at Emaar Beachfront, correct, due to the limited space that they had. So the lifestyle that they will create over there, I could just imagine, like you said, the ambiance between Maritime coming to Rashid Yachts Marina all the way to Dubai Islands. Imagine what a stretch of coastline that will be for 20 kilometers. The kind of footfall we could imagine that would come over there right now. I don't know if I'll show this or not, but when we were walking our property, we sold one of the last Maritime, and just happened to be that our clients were in town who are global real estate investors, American, from Florida, right. There you go. They own property in Portugal and in Spain. They were in town, had purchased sight unseen, and one of the two hadn't even been to Dubai before. So we walked them, and the looks on their faces when they saw you're right on the Arabian Gulf, you can walk right over there to Maritime City. The views from the top, all of downtown, right, phenomenal. It's such a delight for us to see people and imagine there's nothing there yet. Imagine having the view to Rashid Yachts and Marina and Dubai Islands while you're living in Maritime, having a full view of the other two destinations and communities. It's so fulfilling for us to have these clients from across the world that have trusted us. Dubai is a very transparent real estate market. It's not even about trusting us, but yes, of course there's that factor. The fact that Dubai is safe, that money goes through an escrow account managed by the DLD, that we know that it's a transparent real estate market, and then to have them come here and see it and say, oh my God, thank you, so that's exciting. That trio is perfect. Maritime, unless there's a cancellation or something, that's gone. But keep a lookout for what's going to happen in Dubai Islands and be ready with your EOIs. Dubai Islands, I think for the next six years we will continue to see a lot of launches because don't forget it's a total of five islands. It's not something that will be done in the next one year and finish and we move to a different location. We also know the price per square foot is going to continue to increase, indeed. We've seen this. The only reason they're moving so fast is due to the demand. Unlike five years ago, Emaar Beachfront it took some time for the prices to grow because the demand was not there that much until COVID hit us. Yes, to be honest with you, that's when the demand came in for waterfront properties. That is why right now every time Emaar, for example in Rashid Yachts Marina, they launch a building over there, they're selling it up by almost close to 3 to 6 percent in that bracket. We're talking about every 30 days, for example, whenever it goes up that much. So when we tell the clients and they come back and say, oh, I will wait for the next one, well guess what buddy, you're exactly, you're paying 6 to 8 percent higher. So why would you want to wait? Yes, yes. So now let's go to what would be the next area that we would recommend. The next area, still the number one favorite, is Dubai Hills. Dubai Hills, as you could see now, the way it's growing, the way it's building, it's one of the fastest growing communities, one of the most loved, family-oriented community. You have your commercial space, you have Dubai Mall, you have your park, you have your golf courses. And isn't it funny, wasn't Dubai Hills one of those places where people said it was too far out? Of course, I was actually one of them. I was like, how would people, what would make people even buy all the way there. And look, everything that's being developed by some of these major developers is going all the way out there in the suburbs. There's only... Dubai Hills is such a great example of when the government says and they back it, when these government-backed developers or these large developers come in and say we have a master community planned, believe them. Because you could just look at history and look at case studies. Dubai Hills being one of them, correct. Of course, right now if you're going to buy anything in Dubai Hills, we are big fans of branded projects. We prefer to stick to branded projects. When they launched Vida Residences in Dubai Hills, that's the first thing we convinced our investors, forget everything else that Emaar is launching in Dubai Hills, stick to their brands. The reason is, Vida is an Emaar brand, right, just like Address. It's Emaar's hospitality brand. For Americans to understand this, Emaar is the largest developer that creates these hospitality-branded residences and branded residences. There's actually an entire report in-site study by Knight Frank that you can Google and look up, and I referred to it in another video. It's shown, I believe, 30 percent greater capital appreciation on average than non-branded. Correct. Then we know rental returns are way more than even 30 percent. The thing is that it's limited supply. Yes, and that's one of the reasons why it appreciates so much more compared to other projects within the same vicinity. In Dubai, anything that's limited, like everything else in life, anything that's limited it has a much higher value. It's more valuable. So why would you want to compete with everybody else if you have to pay a little bit more and get something that's very limited? Why not? And the branded awareness and the proven track record, like you said, the demand. Dubai Hills, we know that's just a tried and true, and it still has huge potential. Of course, yes. What would be the next area? Next one, Creek Harbor. Dubai Creek Harbor, one of your favorites, exactly. This is another area that we have discussed. Yes, it's sad if you missed out on the waterfront opportunities with the incredible views right there on the water. But this is again about the community because Dubai Creek Harbor is deemed as, and it has to be, the new downtown, downtown, correct. It's going to be the new center, the new center, connected ten minutes away from everything else. Still close but far enough where you feel a little bit less of the hustle and bustle of downtown. Of course, it's an Emaar master community, and they also have the Vida Residences, right, two of them so far. One of them is a Vida hotel, the other one is a Vida residences, which was extremely successful. Address hotels are there, correct. Yes, actually more and more address hotels are starting to pop over there because of the demand. If you can get an address hotel, just do it. Dubai Creek Harbor, there's so much potential and there's going to be more building. They are announcing soon what the new design is going to be for that tall tower, exactly, which is a big mystery right now, correct. By the way, since you've mentioned that, that's why they're telling most investors, buy whatever gets launched in the next few weeks because once that news is out, the announcement of what will be built over there, the prices will shoot up immediately. Of course. And then that's another area also about the metro and the connectivity and how again Dubai, because of it, it's in line with the vision, the 2040 plan. That whole area, you know, it is Emaar, right, that there's that connectivity and that infrastructure that's being constantly built. It's not like they're just building residences, it's the entire plan for this living to cater to residents. Of course, that's a great area for short-term Airbnb as well. Definitely phenomenal. That would be it. Probably my top one, two, three places to stay is Dubai Creek Harbor. And the views of the sunset right there with the beautiful old aras that are against the skyline. It's a beautiful community. I mean, they've tried to achieve everything which they were not able to achieve in downtown Dubai. They've learned from their mistake and I think they've been doing an amazing job so far with Creek Harbor. I love it. Yes, so what would be the next area that our investors should be looking at for investing for the rest of 2024? Dubai's biggest buzz: Dubai South, which includes Emaar South and of course our favorite Expo City. No matter how much we speak about these two communities, it seems like it's never enough because both of these communities keep expanding. You've seen the recent news that was out for Expo City about the expansion. Actually there were two major pieces of news. One was the expansion and the other one was the collaboration with Aldar. Yes, that was music to my ears and to our investors. Let me explain why that matters. Aldar is the largest, most well-known Abu Dhabi developer, yes. Probably every major residential community you can think of in Abu Dhabi. All of them, correct. And going back, there is one news, and we already talked about it because we have already done an entire podcast about Expo City, and I also have a tour that I did of Expo City because I didn't understand it till the last time I came and we went in the little buggy and went around. Al Maktoum airport, the largest international airport. What does that mean to an investor? The people that work at the airport, the businesses. Not to mention, the most important aspect of Expo City was the expansion of two of the largest exhibition centers in the entire region. They've already actually announced that next year, GITEX will no longer take place in the Trade Center. It will be going to Expo City Exhibition Center. I think within the next few years, finished, they will be no longer exhibitions being held in the Trade Center. All the footfall, the traffic will be moving and diverting to Expo City Trade Center. Expo City is already, and I don't want to get too deep into it on this one because we have fully dived into episodes about it, but we're talking about already existing infrastructure, billions of dollars that was invested in this area during Expo 2020, now converted into a community, two-tier pedestrian-friendly. We have hospital news, university news, a metro. It's the only community that has a metro station that picks and drops you right at the entrance. Again, for our investors who already invested, congratulations. Then we have new ones that are waiting. But there's also right in that Dubai South a really big one, South, Emaar South. So what do you say when people say, and have said it to us, oh that's too far, that's too far out? Wow, that's what they said about Nakheel, for example. That's what they said about Dubai Hills. That's what they said about Arabian Ranches. The list goes on and on. But with the population growing at the speed that it is in Dubai, nothing seems to be far because we need to spread out as much as possible in order not to have a shortage in home supply. We don't want to be in the same situation where the US and Canada is today. I have always said Dubai learns from others' mistakes and makes sure that we don't repeat the same mistake. Everything is moving towards that side. Look at Jabel Ali Palm. That is going to be one of the largest projects taking place in that community, yes. So once again, we need those homes. We need to be able to accommodate the footfall. Imagine the number of employees once again that are going to be working in that airport. Where do you think they're going to live, right? Or what about the businesses that are already set up? Exactly, you know. And Ahmed, what about... okay. And then one thing, there is definitely a shortage, a major shortage of townhouses and villas and at affordable prices in Dubai, right. Correct. But that's a great area. It is. So anyone who lost their opportunity by not investing or buying a townhouse or a villa, for example, in Dubai Hills, this is their chance, this is the place. We also have had a client of course, Michael, that, yes. And so this is the chance. There are going to be launches. It's part of, again, it all is in line with the 2040 plan. For example, when we hear, oh, well isn't the runway going to be right over this? Yes, this is government, correct, part of a larger strategic plan. They work with these top-tier developers. That's why it's important to work with a developer that's in line with the government, sure, very strategic. Well, first of all, it's a sensitive subject for most of our offshore clients about the airport being in that area. Is it going to be noisy? Is it going to bother people? Is that a bad sign for business? It's impossible. You need to keep one thing first of all in mind. Number one, in Dubai, all our construction, our window framing for example, are soundproof, which you don't get in the US. Right there, that's one point. Number two, we know for a fact that the runways are not facing towards Emaar South. So for people to be concerned, you shouldn't be concerned. It's irrelevant. Not in Dubai. It's a very strategic plan. It's a vision. And I will say that also, going back to even Expo City, in that Dubai South area, is that this is the Sheik's baby. It's really like the icon of Dubai, right. He actually, the Sheik had said that he wants us to be an example community of all the other cities and areas in this region. They are putting so much thought, strategy, money into making this livable for the residents and the tourists, again. That's part of the 2040 plan. It's not just about investing. It's not just about bring your money and invest here, but it's for the people that live here, correct. It's so refreshing to be in a city where everyone really loves the leaders because they're constantly implementing these strategies and initiatives to increase the quality of life of the people that live here while being very strategic business-wise for those who have invested. That's why you have such an influx of millionaires that are investing in Dubai, many sight unseen, correct. Well, I'll ask you a question. We've traveled pretty much everywhere, correct. Tell me, not everywhere yet but I will get there eventually. Okay. Tell me something. Have you seen the kind of infrastructure that we have in Dubai today in all those other countries you've been traveling in? Europe for example. No, I've been traveling recently a lot to Europe and I am mind-boggled. We living in Dubai have a flawless, literally without any exaggeration, flawless infrastructure. The difference between us in Dubai and other countries, I realize, is we built the infrastructure before we create chaos in the city. We don't wait for 10, 20 million people to jam up in our country as the population increases. Then we worry and figure out how we're going to build the infrastructure around this many people. Yes. We are always ten steps ahead. Absolutely, the leaders in this country, no doubt. I'm sure we've seen a lot of hate on social media when people hear us being the ambassadors of Dubai. At the end of the day, we're not just residents of Dubai. I think we're the ambassadors of Dubai. So when we speak very highly of Dubai, it's because out of passion, it's what we see, what these leaders have believed to accomplish, exactly. We've seen what the leaders have done to this country for its people. Yes, I mean just look at the floods that happened right, and then within days after the floods, there was a multi-billion dollar sewage system initiative or investment that was going to go in, correct. Right. I know we've talked on many podcasts about what...