Dubai developer Azizi expects the emirate’s property market to bounce back early next year, as it looks to raise $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) from a sukuk issue to finance its expansion.
Chief executive Farhad Azizi said there was an increase in the number of inquiries from potential buyers in Dubai.
“We are not just being optimistic out of thin air. We ... are hopeful that [the interest] will increase when it comes to September and October, when schools open.”
The developer claims to be selling five to six apartments a day, compared to just one apartment a week in March and April when movement restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 were at their peak.
Most of the buyers are residents but Mr Azizi said inquiries were coming in from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, India and Pakistan.
Azizi Developments has 54 residential projects with a total investment of Dh5bn across the emirate in districts such as MBR City, Palm Jumeirah, Jebel Ali, Dubai Sports City and Dubai Healthcare City, among others. It plans to deliver 3,000 property units this year.
Mr Azizi said there was a lot of interest in mid-range properties that cost less than Dh1m.
“By next year, hopefully there will be a treatment for Covid-19 and things will come back to normality,” he said.
Expo 2020 Dubai, which was postponed to October next year, is also expected to contribute to the recovery of the property market, he said.
The developer “went through a big panic moment” at the onset of the pandemic, Mr Azizi said, reducing staff salaries by 25 per cent to preserve cash.
“We also reduced our expenses which were non-essential. We have not done layoffs and did not terminate staff.”
The developer recently began to hire staff as demand increased after movement restrictions were eased. It recruited 60 people last month and will hire another 40 by the end of July, Mr Azizi said.
It intends to invest Dh1bn in four new Dubai projects this year if demand continues to grow, and expand into Abu Dhabi where a Dh1bn residential project is on the cards. There are also plans to open an office by the end of this year in the capital.
Mr Azizi said the developer is looking to move into the contracting business, “at a level of managing subcontractors but not deep-diving to the smaller details.”
TTo fund its expansion, the company plans to raise $300m through a bond issuance, Mr Azizi said.
“People feel more comfortable investing in property than investing elsewhere,” he said. “[They] have fear of inflation [and] a fear of investing in the stock market or luxurious products which they may not use, but when it comes to a home, it is an asset they can use it the long term and it gives them a lot of comfort.”
The recent stimulus package announced by the UAE government will also help Dubai’s property sector to recover quickly, he said.
The Emirates introduced Dh256bn in stimulus measures to help offset the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.
The measures consist of zero interest funding to encourage banks to lend more.
The government also launched several other initiatives, including discounted utility bills and waivers of fees.
Dubai’s property market slowed, partly due to the drop in oil prices that began in 2014 and an excess supply of residential units.
The pandemic placed additional pressure on the sector as the number of on-site property viewings dwindled.
However, in an interview with Bloomberg last month, Damac Properties chairman Hussain Sajwani projected a recovery next year on the back of Expo 2020.
Last week, Rizwan Sajan, the chairman of Dubai's Danube Group, also sounded upbeat. He expects the temporary slowdown to lift once oil prices climb above $50 per barrel.
"This drop in oil prices can be ascribed to the world being under partial lockdown," he said. "So, the prices per barrel would soon go higher than $50 once [the] economy of each country is reinstated."
Brent, the international benchmark for crude, closed at $41.02 on Friday, while WTI, the gauge for US oil, closed at $38.49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Specs
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What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
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Cost: A minimum investment of $130,000 for a family of up to four, plus $25,000 in fees.
Criteria: Applicants must have a minimum net worth of $250,000. The process take six to eight weeks, after which the investor must travel to Vanuatu or Hong Kong to take the oath of allegiance. Citizenship and passport are normally provided on the same day.
Benefits: No tax, no restrictions on dual citizenship, no requirement to visit or reside to retain a passport. Visa-free access to 129 countries.
