My Own Home: Couple's Dh2.7m Dubai villa in Santorini-style community surges in value

Nihar Desai and wife Prerna have laid down roots after nearly a decade of renting

Nihar Desai owns a villa in Santorini, Damac Lagoons, Dubai. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

The living room

The kitchen

One of four bedrooms

An office area

Another bedroom

The garden

The community

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Nihar Desai, a senior finance manager, and his wife Prerna, who works from home, have spent the past nine years in Dubai, previously living in Jumeirah 1, near La Mer.

This year, they took the plunge and bought their own property – a four-bedroom townhouse in the Santorini development of Damac Lagoons – to experience community-style living.

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It’s only been five months since they moved in and already the house has appreciated by almost 20 per cent without renovations.

The National takes a look around.

When did you buy your house?

I started looking for the house in January this year, it finally transferred in March and the handover happened some time in June. We moved in in July.

Why did you choose this property?

There were two major reasons. One is the layout. Comparing our house with properties in other communities, this had the biggest layout and was the most comfortable. The way it’s laid out, the rooms are quite bright and all have windows. The living room and bedrooms are a decent size and we have a decent-sized back yard as well.

Minimalist interiors at Nihar and Prerna Desai's four-bedroom villa. Antonie Robertson / The National

Whereas the other town houses we saw at the time in other famous communities had bigger back yards, the compromise for us was the space inside. It was very, very important for us to have space inside.

A big back yard would have been good to have, but we’d only use it for a few months a year, so this one ticked all our boxes.

The Mediterranean theme, and Santorini concept, is unique. Other developers are focusing on white, beige and grey colours, but this is different. The lagoon amenities and water-based focus are the things that excited us the most.

How much did you buy the property for?

We paid Dh2.7 million in March and the value has changed since then. It is now worth about Dh3.2 million. That’s a good jump since July. In only five months, it has appreciated by Dh500,000, about 18 to 19 per cent.

Price-wise, this is great value for money. If you look at town houses in other areas, afour-bedroom, 2,000-plus square feet property was going back in March for about Dh3.5 million to Dh4 million in some communities.

If we had bought in another communities, it might not have appreciated as much because they’ve already peaked and the growth would probably have been slower than Damac Lagoons. Properties in this community started at a low price and it’s only been a year since they were completed. I feel there’s great potential.

What’s good about this neighbourhood?

The villa is in Santorini, in Damac Lagoons. Antonie Robertson / The National

It is close to the new airport, where all the action is going to happen in the coming years. We have Etihad Rail coming and a proposed Metro line. We’re close to big communities like Motor City and Sports City. The Sheikh Zayed Road to Abu Dhabi is also very close to here. This area is going to develop like crazy.

What facilities do you have?

Damac only just started handovers this year, so we don’t have any amenities except for a small park, but plenty of things will open up at some point next year, including a swimming pool, central hub and gym.

The park is open for a walk now and it’s really good, with barbecue pits, good landscaping and events so we get to socialise with community members. It’s fun living here.

The amenities Damac is promising are excellent compared with other communities. Others, at a maximum, have a park, swimming pool, gym, tennis and padel courts. They’re basic amenities that everyone is offering.

There are six or seven lagoons in the masterplan here and they’re huge. There’s a central hub; a mall; retail spaces; restaurants and other things are expected like a floating cinema and water park. There are a lot of things coming to this community that are unique.

What renovations have you done?

It’s a brand-new house so no renovation was required. The quality was awesome. We did the snagging and nothing came up. We’re really happy with the quality Damac delivered. We’ve heard the same things from friends here.

How would you describe your interior design?

Minimal, clean and modern. Colours like beige and off white. It’s calm and doesn’t hurt the eyes.

How long do you plan to stay?

We bought this house to live permanently but if life gives us an upgrade, we’ll upgrade to a bigger house. Until then, we’re happy here.