Al Futtaim To Launch A Massive Residential Project At Festival CityWednesday, September 12, 2012
 The Al Futtaim Group will be constructing and selling residential units in its Dubai Festival City development. According to the company’s senior executive, this decision was taken after seeing the improved market conditions that push property prices back up to 2007 levels. The Group observed that villas and town houses are more in demand as compared to other property types and Festival City is an ideal place to inaugurate their new project. Festival City already has a big shopping centre spreading over two million square ft that is surrounded by offices, residential buildings and a golf course.
The spokesperson further elaborated that right now, they are at about Dh 1300 a square ft and that is the price where they were at in late 2007. The company has put forward 24 new townhouses in the market and almost half of them have been sold. In the next year, Al Futtaim is aiming to sell a few other residential property units that are currently being leased to tenants.
Gradually, Al Futtaim will work on their master plan and develop it over the next 10 to 15 years. Currently, they are signing off on the next five years that will bring 500 to 600 property units. Villa sale prices have risen around 21 percent year on year basis but apartment sale prices were flat. 3000 property units are added just in the second quarter and most of them are apartments, due to which prices are not rising at a fast pace. Most of the families are looking for bigger properties as they are available at reasonable rates. It seems like that Aran Spring has also had a positive effect.
The Arab Spring has a huge impact on the region and from a real estate perspective, and Al Futtaim is getting a huge benefit from it as well, as per their spokesperson. Most of the queries they receive are from GCC residents, not western Europeans not Americans.
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