Crowd queues through the night to snap up Dh4m and Dh5m villas in Dubai

People lined up for the sale at the Nahkeel's Sales office in Dubai.

A crowd of at least 120 people queued up outside Nakheel's Dubai sales office, some through the night, to get their hands on 360 new villas which the developer is building.

Nakheel staff handed out bottles of water to the crowds of people standing in the heat, many of whom were paid a couple of hundred dirhams by investors to keep their spots in line.

Despite the heat and the long wait, the atmosphere was calm and orderly as potential buyers waited to buy the Dh4m and Dh5m four and five bedroom villas which are set to be developed at Nakheel's 350 hectare Jumeirah Park scheme in Dubai.

"So far it seems to be a much more sedate affair than the Emaar sales launch last week," said Mario Volpi, sales and leasing manager for Cluttons.

Local agents report that investors are being allowed to buy as many as ten of the luxury villas each and that Nakheel is asking for deposits of 15 per cent which will be later followed by two further payments of 10 per cent before a pre-title registration will be granted.