At a time when many of Dubai’s lavish property marketing suites are eerily quiet, it is a surprise to find so many investors at the second-phase launch of Tecom Investment’s villa project, Villa Lantana.
Perhaps it is the prices, of between Dh3.2 million and Dh3.3m for a three-bedroom detached villa and Dh3.05m and Dh3.1m for a semi-detached villa, that drew such a large crowd to view the development’s show home on a warm Wednesday afternoon this month.
Throw in the plan’s location – close to DuBiotech off Umm Sequeim Road, just 15 minutes’ drive from Dubai Marina, 10 minutes from Media City and 18 minutes from The Dubai Mall – and for its price bracket, Villa Lantana is one of the hottest new developments close to Downtown Dubai.
The project was first opened up to buyers in September last year, with phase two launched at the end of last month after promising sales. Still a construction site of what will soon become 440 cookie cutter-style three-, four- and five-bedroom detached and semi-detached homes, arranged in a vast semi-circular master plan, Tecom says that Villa Lantana has been designed to provide the sort of housing that people in Dubai actually want.
The developer conducted a survey of 800 of its employees to find out the type of homes they would like to buy, following up with a series of focus groups to understand people’s preferences for large family rooms, enclosed kitchens, separate wash rooms and laundry cupboards.
I toured a four-bed villa with a maid’s room. The 4,151 square foot home has a separate kitchen, living room and dining room downstairs as well as a family room upstairs.
There is also a large garden, big enough for a swimming pool or family ball games.
Even though Tecom has attempted to vary the design by employing 17 different villa facades and 11 different floor plans, there is no escaping its resemblance to so many other Dubai villa developments. Villa Lantana feels like a mass-produced product whose homes may not exactly be identical but are certainly very similar.
Nonetheless, the proof of the pudding for Tecom has to be in its sales figures. The developer is unwilling to give out any sales data beyond the statement that sales have been “strong”, with Emiratis making up 43 per cent of buyers so far.
q&a appetite for risk could pay off
Lucy Barnard offers more insights into the new Villa Lantana project in Dubai:
How do Villa Lantana prices compare with nearby developments?
A four-bedroom detached villa comprising about 4,100 square feet is selling for about Dh4.1 million, which equates to about Dh1,000 per sq ft. According to Asteco, villa prices at nearby projects such as Al Furjan stand at between Dh1,050 and Dh1,150 per sq ft.
When will Villa Lantana be built?
According to Tecom, the project is due for completion at the end of this year.
Is it a good time to buy this type of property in Dubai?
That depends on how long you intend to hold the property for and your appetite for risk. Market data points to the slowing of the sort of astronomic price rises seen in Dubai during the start of last year. Standard & Poor’s is forecasting house prices in the emirate to fall by as much as 10 per cent; JLL predicts prices to fall by an average of 10 per cent. However, although rents are also expected to fall this year, for those expecting to hold their investment long term, the sums may still stack up.
What about supply?
Villas may be hit especially hard by the price slowdown, partly because they are more expensive than apartments, so sales are more vulnerable to the new mortgage caps imposed by the Central Bank, and partly because of more supply coming on to the market.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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