Dh23m Palm Jumeirah villa is still a hard sell

From the villa’s private beach, you can gaze out over the Marina skyline and the Burj Al Arab. Courtesy LuxHabitat

The villa also includes its own private pool, alongside a large terrace. Courtesy LuxHabitat

The villa’s location opposite one of the bridges on the crescent of the Palm Jumeirah means it enjoys fresher water then most of the other properties. Courtesy LuxHabitat

Times are tough at the top of the Dubai property market.

Take for example this European-style four-bedroom villa located at the tip of Palm Jumeirah’s frond D and on the market for Dh23 million.

It is one of only three similar three-storey tip villas and is located directly next to one of the man-made island’s royal palaces. Its location opposite one of the bridges on the crescent of the Palm means the villa enjoys better water circulation than most of the other properties.

From the property’s private beach, you can gaze out over the Marina skyline and the Burj Al Arab. The villa also includes its own private pool, alongside a large terrace.

Inside, features include a cinema, bar and office as well as a spacious family living room, the dining room, a majlis area and lounge. It has been redecorated and restyled to include a fully equipped Italian kitchen, the bathrooms have been upgraded to include jacuzzis and Italian mosaic stones.

And yet, after six months on the market the Italian owners, like hundreds of property owners in Dubai, are still struggling to sell.

The property broker Luxhabitat, which took over marketing the property two weeks ago, says the European style of the villa means it appeals more to Western buyers – the sort of people who were buying in droves in Dubai a few years ago but have now been hit hard by currency fluctuations of the pound and the euro.

“The high cost of the US dollar and the weak euro are certainly causing problems,” says Daniel Garofoli, a luxury sales specialist at Luxhabitat. “It is tough to sell a unit like this at the moment. The seller is remaining very firm on his selling price. We know it may take extra time and marketing money to find the right buyer.”

Mr Garofoli says his firm is searching for a buyer happy to pay for the privilege of living in a completely upgraded property rather than spending six months living in a building site while the works are done around him or her – a rare breed in the current market.

Q&A:

Why do the wealthy buy villas on Palm Jumeirah?

The sheer fame and scale of the Palm Jumeirah – the world’s largest man-made island – attracts buyers from all over the world. At the moment Palm Jumeirah is the only beachfront freehold property available in Dubai so for wealthy expats wishing to buy a villa by the sea, it’s the only choice. That is expected to change when Meraas completes its Jumeirah Bay Island up the coast from Dubai’s Jumeirah beach but that is a long way off.

What is happening to villa prices on the Palm?

Brokers in Dubai agree that prices for luxury property on the Palm have fallen this year as firms in the emirate have cut costs by trimming back on the most well-paid executive positions. According to Asteco, villa prices on Palm Jumeirah have fallen on average by 3 per cent in the year to the end of September 2016.

How many properties are there on Palm Jumeirah?

According to Luxhabitat, there are 4,000 villas and apartments located on the Palm.

What will happen to prices next year?

Property brokers are divided over whether prices will recover in 2017. Optimists point to an expected increase in government infrastructure spending next year ahead of Expo 2020 and expectations that the global oil price will recover which it says are already boosting prices in some areas of the city.

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