A bunch of sand on a man-made island in Dubai sold for $34 million (125 million dirhams) on April 19, setting a new record for the Saudi real-estate market, news agency Bloomberg said in a report.
The parcel of land located in Dubai’s sought-after Jumeirah Bay Island is about 24,500-square-foot in size. That is roughly $1,400 per square foot. Brokerage firm Knight Frank identified this as a new high. The person who bought the parcel of land is not a native of the UAE but plans to build a family vacation home on the property, Bloomberg reported.
“Everything that’s been making the press has predominantly been spectacular villas, it’s been incredible penthouses and all this stuff. But this is just a massive record breaker for a land plot,” Andrew Cummings, head of prime residential at Knight Frank in Dubai, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
The Dubai Land Department records show that the property was purchased two years ago for 36.5 million dirhams and the seller fetched 88.5 million-dirham profit.
The scale of the sale shows how the real estate market in Dubai is due to high oil prices, coupled with the world’s richest to invest in property and also due to Dubai being a low-crime and low-tax city, acting as a haven during pandemics and wars.
The Bloomberg report points out that Russian citizens are buying properties in Dubai and native residents are welcoming of the Russians. The golden visa scheme is also attracting the richest people around the world to invest in the city’s real estate.
The report also said that sellers, especially those who have plots in the beachfront area, are in a strong position to dictate prices. There are 127 other parcels of land in the Jumeirah Bay Island and all of them were sold after they were offered by government-backed developer Meraas Holding.
Some of them have made a huge profit by selling their plots and though the plots do not allow subdivision, some owners have combined their plots to build megamansions.
The island also houses the Bulgari Resort, one of the most expensive hotels in the city, as well as the future Bulgari Lighthouse tower. The report said that the cost of apartments has increased to record highs even before it has been built.
The seller who earned $34 million also owns an identical plot next to the one just sold and plans to offer it for 135 million dirhams.
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