With a mansion at District One leased for a jaw-dropping Dh7 million, Dubai’s property market is off to a solid start for 2022. The identity of the resident has not been revealed, but he did receive one month’s rent-free in the deal.
The last year was a record-breaking year for sales of Dubai’s villas, penthouses, and plots, with several deals worth more than Dh100 million. There were also a few rental deals that set records. (One of the biggest rental deals in Dubai last year was a Dh7.5 million deal in Emirates Hills.)
“The deal we are talking about is one of the largest rentals ever recorded in the Dubai Land Department system,” said Malik Aman, consultant at Ax Capital, who was the estate agent involved in the new District One deal. District One forms part of MBR City, where property value gains are comparable to those of Palm Villas.
District One has also offered plots for investors to build their own bespoke mansions in the past. Current sales listings show a seven-bedroom villa for Dh110 million, and an eight-bedroom one for Dh111 million. That’s a lot of money.
On the rental side, the situation is similar. “During the last year, prices of both rental and sales have skyrocketed in District One. For example, five-bedroom villas were being rented at around Dh500,000 until the start of 2021, and now are between Dh1 million to Dh1.3 million.”
“The prices for villas at District One are up by 40-60 percent last year alone.”
“With only 500 ready villas, as well as having an incredible location and the world’s largest freshwater lagoon, are among the many factors that villa owners at District One are having, whether to sell or rent” – Malik Aman of Ax Capital
Structuring the Dh7m rental
“This particular property was not in the market for rent,” said Malik. “Actually, the one owner was looking to sell it for the last three months. Then we had this prospective tenant enquiring about another villa in District One. During the viewing of that villa, he shared details of what he was actually looking for.
“He was very specific about his requirements. When I researched the District One cluster, there was not one such house for rent. But there one was that was up for sale. I shared the info with this tenant, structured an offer, and presented the offer to the owner of the villa. It was then converted into a lease deal and that’s that how it ended up.”
Last year, most of the deals for top-of-the-range luxury properties in Dubai were for new residents. This sale was for an existing resident who wanted to upgrade. And he sure did that with a Dh7 million mansion rental.