Dubai’s Nakheel set to launch new projects in H2

Dubai-based Nakheel is set to launch new projects for sale in the second half of this year as the emirate’s property market shows signs of recovery, the developer’s chairman Ali Rashid Lootah told Middle East Economic Digest (MEED).

The company has been unfazed by a market slowdown in recent months, Lootah said, adding that he expects activity within the real estate sector to pick up in the coming months.

“A lot of people are submitting designs and starting construction,” he explained. “We see opportunities and we have land. We will halt the sales of land in all these areas and start development ourselves.”

Nakheel’s plans to forge ahead with new projects come after some analysts had predicted property prices in Dubai to soften in the short-term.

Average residential sales prices in Dubai recorded a drop of around 2 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q1-2106, according to a recent report by real estate consultancy CBRE. The drop was attributed to weaker investor demand, a stronger US dollar, as well as regional and global economic challenges.

An immediate recovery in prices is unlikely, property consultancy Cluttons noted in a separate report, particularly given the current uncertainty around commodity prices, which have a direct impact on liquidity levels within the UAE's banking system.