Latest news with #ArabianRanches
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Dubai homeowners renovate villas, townhouses as prices double in 3 years
Sellers in Dubai are renovating their older villas and townhouses to take advantage of strong demand as the average price has nearly doubled in the past three years. 'Since May 2022, the average villa and townhouse prices have skyrocketed by a remarkable 92 per cent, climbing from Dh3.475 million to Dh6.682 million in just three years. Even within the last year alone, these properties have seen a significant 35 per cent increase in sales price across villa and townhouse communities. This is a clear indicator of sustained demand, limited supply, and growing investor confidence in villa and townhouse communities in Dubai,' said real estate agency Allsopp and Allsopp, quoting Dubai Land Department (DLD) data. 'The Dubai real estate market is not just growing; it's redefining investment benchmarks, especially for villas and townhouses. Imagine nearly doubling your investment in just three years; that's the reality for villa and townhouse owners in Dubai. "The under-supply of quality homes, particularly ready and upgraded villas, continues to fuel this growth. Buyers want space, established communities, and turnkey homes they can move into immediately which is exactly what communities like Arabian Ranches, Jumeirah Golf Estates and Victory Heights have,' said Lewis Allsopp, chairman of Allsopp & Allsopp. Upgrading older villas, townhouses Dubai's property market has seen massive demand, especially for bigger units such as villas and townhouses soon after the outbreak of the pandemic. The restrictions on the people's movement by the authorities to contain the pandemic prompted residents to look for bigger units, pushing demand and prices of villas substantially higher. Dubai Land Department (DLD) reported Dh54 billion in property sales transactions in May, an impressive 11 per cent increase from the previous month. According to Asteco's latest data, 6,375 villas were handed over in 2024 and 2,750 in the first quarter of 2025. It is expected that 14,600 villas will be handed over by the end of 2025. The real estate agency noted that sellers are increasingly recognising the potential in renovating older properties, as these modern homes within their community now command significant prices. 'We're now seeing more sellers upgrade and list their homes as the demand for bigger, newly renovated properties grows. Many of Dubai's older homes offer unmatched space, with buyers opting for modernised and renovated homes rather than taking on the time and effort of upgrading themselves,' said Lewis Allsopp.
The National
3 days ago
- Business
- The National
My Dubai Salary: ‘I use my Dh140,000 monthly salary to support children's charities'
Patrick Doyle donates the majority of his earnings in children's charities. As chief executive of a goods and service company dedicated to serving embassies, consulates, NGOs and military bases, he believes he is very fortunate and tries to use his income to support the needy. The 60-year-old Irish national, who has lived in the UAE for the past six years, also invests in property and other companies. The Dubai resident lives with his wife, an entrepreneur, and their three children, Emily, eight, Eleanor, six, and Olivia, four. 'We've always lived in Arabian Ranches in Dubai but recently sold our house and bought another property in the community, which we are refurbishing. We are renting in Tilal Al Ghaf for a year, while we wait for our house to be ready,' he says. Mr Doyle left school at 16 and did a diploma at the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade in the UK. What was your first job and salary? My first job as a messenger earned me £40 ($54) a week. I would take documents from my company to other businesses in London or go to shipping lines to pick up packages. I did that for six months and then moved into the office as a junior staffer. That was at the age of 17, and by 21, I was shipping manager of one of the biggest companies in the world. Tell us about your current role. What is your salary now? My role is chief executive of a company called International Diplomatic Supplies. We supply duty-free goods, groceries and frozen foods to embassies in 85 countries. My average monthly income is Dh140,000 ($38,121). I started the company in 1997 in the UK. I was then paying myself £27,000 a year, which is less than what I earn a month now. But my main earning now is the dividend from company profits. I'd prefer not to say how much that is. Do you have considerable savings? I wouldn't say I have considerable savings. I have available money and investments in a couple of companies. I've an investment in a UAE-based tea company called BRW Society and own a UK-based non-alcoholic gin company called Sea Arch. My wife also has access to the family money to use for her company, Drink Dry. We've just invested in an off-plan property in Al Marjan Island, Ras Al Khaimah. So, rather than saving, I tend to put my money into things that might get a return. What asset classes do you invest in? I put a lot of money into children's charities. My wife and I always say: 'God is watching.' We're very lucky, fortunate in the success we've had, and we try to help children. I'm vice chairman of The Sparkle Foundation, a UAE-based charity, and we, as a company, and my wife and I also support an organisation in Ethiopia called Shamida, which provides daily meals for children and staff at an orphanage and women's refuge centre in Addis Ababa. We put amounts of money into it that we've never spent on ourselves. Have you purchased property here? We bought a villa in Arabian Ranches for Dh15 million three years ago. With the property market going up, we were able to sell it for Dh25 million, pay off the mortgage and bought another five-bedroom villa for Dh12 million, free of mortgage. We're now putting in a swimming pool, new kitchen, new bathrooms and redesigning it to move there next March. We also purchased a two-bedroom apartment (with study) in Ras Al Khaimah for Dh3.8 million. I know that Al Marjan Island is going to be an up-and-coming destination and a good investment. It has a very convenient payment plan. Do you have any debt? I haven't got any debt. We pay our credit cards in full every month, so we use it as a convenience rather than to run up debt. Have you ever inherited a sum of money? We didn't come from money. My father was a bus conductor. When he died, my mother gave me £1,000 that my father had left to give each of his children. She also gave me an emotional letter from him. I kept it in a drawer in an envelope with the letter. We had some decorators come into our UK house. We went away and when we got back, the envelope with the note and the money had been taken. Missing the note really hurt, not the money. Growing up, were you taught how to handle your finances? Not at all. There were no finances in my house for anybody to handle. My wife manages money decisions in the family. When I had money, I bought three racehorses. If my wife has money, we invest it wisely and buy properties. What are your major monthly expenses? I've got three racehorses in the UK that need to be trained, their medical bills, vet's bills, that's a big expense. A significant amount of our money goes to the charities we support. Having three children, they always need something, and then the running of the house. Have you started saving for retirement? My company is successful, so I can either continue to work beyond 60 or 65 years and earn good dividends or no longer work and still earn dividends. Or I sell the business. Running the company has been the greatest career you could possibly imagine. I've enjoyed it. I've earned a huge amount of money. We also have a house in the UK, so we have assets. I don't necessarily need to retire. I love my job. So, I could either work for another 10 years or retire tomorrow. Do you have an emergency fund? We probably keep about Dh500,000 for emergencies. What do you spend your disposable income on? Travel. My wife likes to go shopping and I like to buy her things. Plus, I've three racehorses and they are very expensive. I don't advise anyone to ever buy one. Do you worry about money? No, I don't. I worry about other people's lack of money and how I can help them. What are your financial goals? My goals are to secure my children's future. I've a 23-year-old son from my previous marriage. My children would possibly end up being adults in the UK where the housing market is ever more difficult for people to get on to as prices get out of control and bear no relation to salaries. What is your idea of financial freedom? What I have now. I've cash, assets and a successful business. I'm very, very fortunate.
The National
07-05-2025
- Business
- The National
My Own Home: Arabian Ranches villa has increased in value by Dh4m in five years
My Own Home takes you inside a reader-owned property to ask how much they paid, why they decided to buy and what they have done with it since moving in Emirati HR manager Naythar Al Balushi and her Kenyan husband Ahmed have seen the value of their property in Arabian Ranches 1 rise by about Dh4 million ($1 million) in the past five years. They bought the three-bedroom villa in a distress sale before the Covid-19 pandemic peaked, spending Dh1.85 million. The value has since gone up to Dh5.5 million, at least. Ms Al Balushi and her husband were both born and raised in the UAE. They live in their home with their three children, aged 11, nine and seven. While they have considered moving to Nad Al Sheba, where Ms Al Balushi's parents live, they love their home and neighbourhood too much to leave any time soon. The National takes a look around. What sold it to us was that, behind our back garden, there is a small park and it's perfect for the kids. The villa has three bedrooms, a study and a laundry room. We've got a very big back garden. The main living room is downstairs and we've got a little small living room upstairs as well. Then there is the master bedroom and two rooms for the kids. We bought it at the beginning of 2020. We used to stay in an apartment, so this is the first house we've owned. We were looking for a while but the market was going up and down. We were trying to save up as we'd always wanted to buy a place of our own and the prices weren't so bad at the time. Then we found this place. It was pretty rundown, actually. It was not renovated, it was a distress sale and we just loved the area. We've always loved the area. So we took the plunge because we thought it was an excellent price. We said we could upgrade it and see where it goes from there. We bought it for Dh1.85 million. I constantly get calls asking if I want to sell and I think it would be worth about Dh5.5 million. I just got told today they sold one that wasn't upgraded for Dh5.2 million, so the guy told me we could probably get Dh5.5 million for it. We did a complete upgrade before we moved in. We remodelled the entire kitchen. We broke it down and rebuilt everything. We also did all the ceilings again. There were two windows leading to the back garden, so we made it into just one, so there's more sunlight coming in. We put in a seating area in the back garden and redid the lighting. And then upstairs, we broke down a wall so there's more light coming in. We've changed all the bathrooms, removed baths and put in showers. The wardrobes were all completely changed. We spent about Dh600,000. It's modern yet it's got a cosy feel. The bedrooms are very cosy. Upstairs is more cosy, in general, because we spend more time up there, while downstairs is more formal, but modern as well. We have access to a pool, but we can also access the pools of all the other communities within the Ranches. We've also got two parks within Al Reem 1, and we've got a skate park and a tennis court. We were planning for it to be our forever home but, if we could get a bigger place at some point, maybe we could move closer to my parents. My parents are in Nad Al Sheba. Where I work is close to them and, when my kids finish school, they get dropped off at my parents' house. They've always said, if we can get a place within the same community, then why not sell? We'd possibly sell if we get a good price. Right now it's probably permanent, because we love this area so much. We can't think of moving anywhere else. So, we're in between at the moment, because we just love it here so much.
