The pandemic may have hampered spending in some sectors, but for the Dubai property market, the big deals are still rolling in. Coming amid the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/property/dubai-property-sales-transactions-hit-11-year-high-in-q1-report-says-1.1214986">highest recorded number of home sales transactions in Dubai since 2010</a>, a second sale this year exceeding Dh100 million has just been recorded in the emirate. The property is located in one of the city's most exclusive communities, the XII Carat development on Palm Jumeirah. The new owners are European and wish to remain anonymous. “We are seeing ever increasing levels of transactional activity in the super prime marketplace," said Andrew Cummings, co-founder and managing director of LuxuryProperty.com which represented both buyer and seller. “This transaction only helps to cement Dubai’s position as a primary residence destination.” Earlier this year, a villa at One100 Palm was bought for Dh111.25m by a Swiss family who planned on keeping it as a luxury rental. It spans three floors and has a built-up area of 14,000 square feet, sitting within the most sought-after frond on Palm Jumeirah. Some of the highlights of the villa include Bentley Home and Minotti furniture, decor by Louis Vuitton and Hermes, besides various unique custom-made pieces hand-picked and sourced from around the world. Out of three world-class indoor/outdoor cinema lounges, there is an outdoor hydraulic pop-up theatre on the ground floor, rooftop outdoor cinema along with an infinity glass Jacuzzi with a pop-up TV. The most expensive private residence sale came in 2015 when a Palm Jumeirah villa was bought for Dh185m. Dubai registered sales of more than 6,000 ready homes worth Dh13.5 billion ($3.7bn) and 3,600 off-plan properties worth Dh5bn in the first three months of the year, according to real estate consultancy ValuStrat. Sales have been boosted by new programmes such as visas for expatriate retirees and the expansion of the 10-year golden visa scheme to attract foreign professionals to settle in the UAE. The market view was further supported last week by <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/property/dubai-villa-and-townhouse-sales-jump-more-than-three-fold-in-the-first-quarter-1.1212591">real estate listings portal Property Finder, which reported</a> that sales of ready villas and townhouses in Dubai jumped more than three-fold during the first quarter as residents sought more spacious homes amid the coronavirus pandemic. ______________
