Arada records 35% increase in unit sales to Dh1.75bn in 2020

Sharjah developer secures project financing worth Dh337m from two UAE lenders

Arada sold 1,977 units at its Dh24bn mixed-use community Aljada last year and will hand over the first homes there in January. Photo: Courtesy Arada

Sharjah-based real estate developer Arada recorded a 35 per cent increase in unit sales totalling Dh1.75 billion last year, the company said on Monday. The developer sold a total of 2,337 units across its two projects, Aljada and Nasma Residences, during the course of 2020.

The developer also signed new project financing agreements with two lenders – an initial Dh300m loan from Dubai Islamic Bank and a Dh37m facility with Ajman Bank. The two agreements follow earlier loans from lenders totalling Dh2bn, which were secured in 2017 and 2018.

“Against an incredibly difficult backdrop, Arada outperformed expectations over the course of 2020, awarding over Dh1bn in contracts and achieving exceptional sales results,” Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, chairman of Arada, said.

“In particular, we see the closure of the new financing agreements with Dubai Islamic Bank and Ajman Bank as another vote of confidence not just in Arada, but also in the resilience of the Sharjah property market.”

Arada is a joint venture between KBW Investments – a firm controlled by Saudi Arabia's Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed – and Sharjah-based Basma Group. The company is targeting further increases in its sales pipeline to achieve annual sales of Dh3bn by 2025, its chief executive Ahmed Alkhoshaibi told The National in August.

The company said that although sales dipped at the height of pandemic-induced movement restrictions in April, they recovered strongly in the second half of the year, with the developer posting its best quarterly performance in the three months to September.

Arada sold 1,977 units at its Dh24bn mixed-use community Aljada last year and will hand over the first homes there this month. It awarded key construction contracts in Aljada, including for the project’s second residential phase, East Village, and the SABIS International School being built within the development.

New districts were also opened within the masterplanned community and a family entertainment destination known as Madar.

Within Nasma Residences, 993 homes were completed in the first five phases of the Dh1.3bn villa and townhouse community in Al Tay. The development, which contains a 13-acre park and a community centre that will open in the first quarter of this year, is now sold out after the remaining 360 units were sold last year, the developer said.

Property transactions in Sharjah increased by 10 per cent to Dh4.6bn in the third quarter of last year, the emirate's real estate registration department said in November. During the same period, average sale prices were 20 per cent lower year-on-year "mainly due to increased competition from Dubai with more affordable options", according to consultancy Asteco.