Source: Arabian Business
Dubai luxury developer DAMAC said the current property market conditions have led to buyers seeking better value.
Dubai’s DAMAC Properties reported a 1.3 percent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit on Tuesday, according to Reuters calculations.
The developer reported a net profit of 854.6 million dirhams ($232.7 million) for the three months to Dec. 31, 2016, Reuters calculated in the absence of a quarterly breakdown. This was up from 844 million dirhams reported for the year-ago period.
Full-year 2016 net profit was 3.69 billion dirhams, down from 4.51 billion dirhams in 2015, the company said. The company said its shareholders had approved the distribution of a cash dividend of 0.25 dirhams per share for 2016. That compares with 0.15 dirhams per share for the previous year.
Hussain Sajwani, chairman of DAMAC, in a statement published with the developer’s Q4 results, said the Dubai real estate market in 2016 had stabilised over 2015, with no major fluctuations in prices.
“There is demand for quality real estate but with the challenging market conditions we are operating in, what has changed is customers are seeking better value,” Sajwani said.
“Our medium to long-term outlook remains positive, and we are well-positioned to accommodate and navigate these conditions.”
Last month, Arabian Business revealed that the prices of Akoya and Trump-branded projects in Dubai fell by up to 7% in 2016.
Sajwani said its most recently launched properties in the golf community were reduced to attract a wider range of buyers.
“During the year, we launched a series of innovative products in our golf community Akoya Oxygen that were priced to attract a wider audience, including first-time buyers and millennials, looking for properties in premium locations at an attainable price and with favourable payment terms,” Sajwani said.
“These investors were seeking to either diversify their current investment portfolio or were end-users with lifestyle aspirations.”
DAMAC ramped up the delivery of its properties significantly in Q4, handing over 1,100 units in the quarter alone, which brought the total units delivered to more than 2,400 for the year.
