New $61m Dubai villa on sale in Emirates Hills amid ultra-luxury property shortage

A boom in Dubai's prime residential market has led to prices rising about 60 per cent in the past 12 months

A new property in Dubai, the XLV Residence, is now on the market for Dh225 million ($61.2m) as the emirate registers strong demand for prime projects amid a supply shortage in the segment.

The seven-bedroom house, within the luxury Emirates Hills community, has been furnished and decorated in collaboration with luxurious brands such as Cavalli, Fendi and Gaggenau.

The architecture and design were done by a Dubai-based boutique studio called Qeblawi Brooks.

The villa has been described as an entertainment palace that can host up to 300 people at a time.

It is the most expensive project in Emirates Hills so far and is expected to surpass the selling price of a five-bedroom villa in the area that fetched Dh102.8m.

“This level of luxury is quite rare, especially available directly from the developer, and it is brand new and still under warranty,” said Georges Al Hachem, commercial director at Select Group, which developed the property.

“The materials and design elements used in XLV are unparalleled, even in such a luxury market like Dubai.”

He said that there were a “a few” interested buyers.

The Dubai real estate market has been running hot for some months now, with records set for the highest number of transactions and most expensive properties.

The market has been particularly attracting high-net-worth individuals from around the world, as the UAE's economy strengthens from the global coronavirus-induced slowdown.

The country's non-oil private sector recorded its highest reading for the year in May.

However, while a further 31,000 units are expected to be delivered in the latter three quarters of the year, according to property consultancy Core, brokers told The National of a shortage of available properties at the highest end of the market.

A boom in Dubai's prime residential market has led to prices rising by about 60 per cent over the past 12 months, driven by growing interest from international investors, consultancy Knight Frank said.

Prime areas include Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills and Jumeirah Bay Island, among others.

“Through to the end of 2025, just eight new villas are expected to be built in Dubai’s prime residential areas, hinting strongly at continued outperformance of villas at the very top of the market as there is nothing to suggest an easing of the luxury home drought any time soon,” said Faisal Durrani, partner and head of Middle East research at Knight Frank.

The shortage of prime stock has been an issue for the past year or so, especially in the face of rising demand, said Mark Castley, chief operating officer of LuxuryProperty.com.

However, custom-built and designed homes, which were due for delivery a few years ago, are now being handed over, providing more availability at the higher end of the market.

“For us as a company, this has proven to be quite serendipitous as in the past two weeks, we have successfully completed five transactions at above Dh70m each,” he said.

Allsopp & Allsopp has recorded a 50 per cent decline in ultra-prime properties coming to the market when comparing May 2022 to May 2021, said chief executive Lewis Allsopp.

While demand is increasing, supply has remained stagnant, he said.

“Most ultra-prime property owners are holding on to their properties unless there is a need to sell,” he said.

“We have seen reports recently say that property prices could still see a rise. The other issue that ultra-prime property owners have is the lack of supply in the market. If they were to sell their own property, there may not be a property on the market available for them to move to.”