A touch of Hollywood glamour is heading to Bluewaters Dubai as the hosts of Netflix hit Selling Sunset, The Oppenheimer Group, open their first UAE real estate office.
The fly-on-the-wall reality show is in its ninth season and takes a look inside the world of luxury real estate in Los Angeles, Orange County and Tampa.
The agents living off huge commissions steal the show, alongside the jaw-dropping properties on sale to the rich and famous in some of California’s priciest postal codes.
The firm’s Middle East expansion is led by Omar Abaza, a long-time friend and business associate of group founder Jason Oppenheim. Mr Abaza told The National that recruiting has begun to assemble a team of estate agents who could be in line to star in a Dubai-based show of their own.
“Obviously the show is what brought the awareness and the recognition to The Oppenheim Group, but the reason why it's successful is because of the quality of the brokers,” he said. “Jason being chief among them is, in my opinion, one of the top five brokers in the US and the world. That's what really drives our sales, the quality of our team.
“We have that here as well with the brokers I've been able to put together. Whether a show comes on the back of it, obviously and selfishly, I would love that to be the case. I think the first step is hopefully to get Selling Sunset to come out here when we do launch the office.”
Huge office and event space
That launch of a 6,500-square-foot office is pencilled in for December. By then, it is hoped, the recovery in the property market will be in full swing.
The UAE operation launches with a team of 20 brokers and a growing portfolio of luxury residential listings across Dubai, supported by a global network of clients. The team is expected to expand further over the coming months.
When the doors finally open, one of the first tasks facing the group will be to decide where to position the famous deal-closing bell, which is a fixture of the award-winning TV show.
More pressing matters facing brokers include how to capitalise on a challenging luxury housing market. While not in a steep decline, Dubai’s luxury real estate segment has cooled since the outbreak of regional conflict in late February.
After years of record-breaking growth, high-end transaction volumes have slowed. In a maturing market, buyer interest has shifted slightly towards smaller units, lower price points or non-prime inventory.
Resilient market
Despite those challenges, luxury property continues to sell – and rent.
In March, a vast luxury apartment spread across 1,000 square metres on the 87th floor of the Burj Khalifa became one of the most expensive rental properties in the country and was leased for around Dh12 million ($3.2 million) a year.
The property benefited from a multimillion-dollar refurbishment. Asking prices for luxury properties on the market are on the slide in Los Angeles as well as Dubai. According to the latest market report from Luxury Price Drops, which analyses real-time luxury property sales.
In August, Los Angeles had 1,762 asking-price reductions, wiping $867.73 million off the value of property for sale. In Dubai, luxury property took a similar hit, with asking-price reductions on 3,428 properties, knocking some Dh2.4 billion ($653.5 million) off the value of luxury homes for sale.
Mr Abaza said the UAE remains a market with huge potential and that brokers will also look towards sales in Abu Dhabi.
“The UAE population targets and the nature of the people who are coming out here will help,” he said. “Dubai is not an inexpensive city to live in, so generally, your investor type and your end users tend to have a little bit more disposable income and capital.
“Our office is going to be absolutely one of the most special elements, and that is how you attract the right type of brokers. Hopefully the bell is going to get rung several times.”
Sales positions in demand
So far, the group has sifted through more than 150 applicants for broker positions.
Although agents do not receive a base salary, they can make big money in the luxury sector, with closing commissions reaching around 2.5 per cent in the US or $200,000 on an $8m property.
Jason Oppenheim said the UAE was an obvious destination for the group’s first Middle East outpost.
“We’ve been talking about the UAE for a while now,” he said. “Omar is a very close friend and someone I trust implicitly, with very close ties to the region as well as a deep understanding of what The Oppenheim Group stands for.
“He’s led this expansion with the backing of experienced investment partners and is currently fitting out an office that, when complete, is going to be an exceptional representation of the brokerage. It’s a source of great personal pride knowing that The Oppenheim Group will be represented in the UAE.”
