Jumeirah Golf Estates is set to start developing mid-market homes for the first time around the course that is home to the European Tour Race to Dubai.
The golf course developer reported a 68 per cent jump in 2014 profits to Dh430 million and revealed plans to develop 625 homes around the course.
It also intends to unveil a new master plan for the second and third phases of the project.
The AlAndalus project will include 550 apartments and 75 town houses along with retail, hospitality and food and beverage outlets. The homes will start from Dh597,000.
“Taking note of strong demand for mid-market homes, the launch of AlAndalus creates an even more diverse real estate proposition within Jumeirah Golf Estates,” said the chief executive Yousuf Kazim.
Many golf course developments found themselves in the bunker after the 2008 property crash as projects ground to a halt and investors defaulted on payments.
The recovery of property prices over the past two years, however, has encouraged a revival in golf course property development, but this time developers are building more affordable homes in response to perceived higher investor demand in the mid-market.
Damac, the Dubai developer known for its luxury projects, is now developing hundreds of affordable homes at its 55 million square feet Akoya Oxygen development.
Emaar, the developer behind Burj Khalifa, is now also building more affordable housing with projects such as Mira, where three-bedroom town houses were sold starting from less than Dh1 million.
It comes as municipal authorities in the emirate push to introduce mandatory affordable housing quotas for all new developments.
“It is important to remember that there is a huge pent-up demand for affordable housing in the UAE,” said Steven Morgan, the chief executive of Cluttons Middle East, in a recent report.
scronin@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
