Investors eye off-plan residential property in flight to safety
UAE-headquartered upscale residential, hospitality and commercial property developer Seven Tides is still receiving frequent sales enquiries, particularly for its Seven Palm development on Palm Jumeirah, despite the economic fallout and social restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Seven Tides CEO, Abdulla bin Sulayem, believes that this is in part due to the volatile global financial markets which are naturally making investors cautious and looking for stable longer-term returns offered by off-plan developments.
Another reason that demand for Seven Tides’ developments in particular, have remained robust is because of the way it has adapted its business model, by turning to technology to overcome the social restrictions as well the administrative and payment process.
“We have introduced 3D virtual tours of our developments, so that investors can still make an informed decision from distance, with sales support on-hand in real time, to answer any specific questions.
“In terms of administration, our support staff can help investors navigate their way through the process and contactless payments which can be made online, via cheque deposit or electronic transfer.
“So, virtually, I think it would be fair to say that for Seven Tides, it is a case of business as usual, with the added benefit of keeping everybody safe,” added bin Sulayem.
Just prior to the outbreak, Seven Tides announced a 70% spike in sales, worth AED 100 million for its residential and hotel apartments, with the Seven Palm development generating the lion’s share of sales revenue.
“This highlights another benefit of buying off-plan, with many developers like Seven Tides, offering attractive instalments that stretch all the way to handover and beyond, preserving in the main, the immediate cash position of investors, even though the return on bank deposits in many cases is negligible,” said bin Sulayem.
“However, on the flip side, for those with access to credit, mortgage rates are highly attractive at present,” he added.
Seven Tides’ Seven Palm development consists of two projects, ‘Seven Palm Hotel Apartments’ and ‘Seven Palm Residences’.
Investors can reserve an apartment with a 5% deposit, and 6% Sales Purchasing Agreement (SPA), followed by two instalments of 5% due within three months and five months and then 9% inside 7 months, with a further 20% upon handover. Construction work is now over 27% complete and scheduled for handover during Q4 2020.
The remaining 50% balance, which is payable in instalments within 12 months after handover, provides investors with the opportunity to offset a part of the purchase price during the first year of occupancy through a guaranteed return or rental income.
Image renderings, virtual walk-throughs of the studio and one-bedroom apartments as well as videos of the Seven Palm project are available and can be viewed here: www.seventides.com/sevenpalm.
The property also features a state-of-the-art visual navigator tool allowing prospective buyers, residents and investors to view 2D and 3D floor plans, take specialised 3D tours and view relevant images, videos and diagrams.