UK estate agent Savills forms Gulf partnerships

The Middle East is as 'an area of increasing importance and a growing source of international capital and investors into real estate', says Savills chief executive.

The UK-based high-end estate agent Savills has announced a series of new partnerships in Dubai and the wider Gulf region, as luxury property prices in some parts of London show signs of cooling.

Savills has tied up with Dubai’s Core Real Estate, which offers services including commercial and residential sales and leasing, international property sales, consultancy and market research.

Core Real Estate will retain its name, and will be branded as “International Associates of Savills”.

It will also establish offices in Qatar and Bahrain to service markets in the “northern Gulf” region, which consists of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Edward Macura, Core Real Estate’s managing director, said: “We are very much looking forward to working with Savills in bringing their portfolio of services and prime residential properties from across the globe to the UAE.

“We are confident that our new association with Savills will prove a great benefit to both businesses by combining Savills’ extensive international network with our deep understanding and experience of the UAE market.”

However Savills’ entry into the UAE coincides with a cooling of Dubai’s luxury real estate market, with villa prices in particular likely to soften in the near future.

A report published last week from Knight Frank found that prices for prime villas in Dubai had risen by an average of 6.3 per cent over the year to the end of June, compared with a 24 per cent rise in mainstream house prices over the same period.

Knight Frank argued that the luxury market’s underperformance was largely attributed to new mortgage caps introduced last year, and the fact that rent increases in the luxury segment had lagged those of more affordable homes.

Mr Macura said that while there had been a slowdown in speculative activity, primary and secondary end user purchases from the region, Asia and Europe continued to be strong.

“Our experience of the prime segment is that it’s not so reliant on retail financing, and I believe steady enquiries should remain from end users providing the regional political status quo remains and the Dubai government’s 2020 vision roll out continues,” he said.

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