Amid pandemic a Palm Jumeirah villa rents out for a record Dh1.4m

The annual rent was paid before the 6-bed frond villa was finished and brought to the open market

UAE, Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, elevated view of the Palm area of man-made islands in the shape of a palm, view towards Atlantis, The Palm, Hotel

PH Real Estate, one of Dubai's oldest real estate agencies, closed a record-breaking Dh1.4 million ($381,000) annual rental deal for a luxurious property on The Palm Jumeirah.

The tenants, a French citizen and a UAE resident who wished to remain anonymous, paid the record rent on the new six-bedroom frond villa before its construction was completed, PH Real Estate said in a statement on Monday.

The villa, rented on a three-year, fixed term contract, is a contemporary, custom built property located at the end of a 'frond' on the Palm, with its own beach and splash pool. Pictures of the property were not available as the tenants declined to share them, citing privacy reasons.

The transaction was "a smooth, efficient and pandemic-friendly deal," Nick Grassick, PH Real Estate's managing director, said. “Although this year, the rental trend is downwards, certain areas of Dubai – the most prestigious locations – are now seeing rent and sale prices stabilise, and this record deal underlines that the shoots of recovery are not only there, but blossoming."

Lyndsey Redstone, an executive sales consultant with PH Real Estate, handled the deal.

“After a tough year for everyone, it's gratifying to see such a phenomenal property achieve its rental worth so quickly," Ms Redstone said.

In August, gross rental yields in Dubai – the annual rent as a percentage of the purchase price or value of a property – remained relatively stable at 6.49 per cent, with rents falling in line with property prices, according to Property Monitor's monthly market report.

"Yields remains considerably higher in Dubai compared to other global cities, increasing its appeal as a safe haven for investors," the report said.

The highest recorded property sale during August was a Dh58.66m six-bedroom apartment in Il Primo, in the Opera District of Downtown Dubai, according to the report.

There were 2,462 transactions recorded in August, representing a slight decrease from 2,496 in July, it said.

August transactions were 8.3 per cent higher than in the same month a year ago.

"However, they are lower by 15.4 per cent year-to-date versus the same period in 2019, considering the dip in activity in Q2 this year," the report said.