INTERVIEW
thoughts on a number of issues relating to the real estate markets. Excerpts:
Gulf Property: Most developers are now facing problems in selling homes – and you do not seem to have any problems in selling. How’s that? Joseph Ghossoub: When we entered the real estate sector in 2013, we studied the market well. The market was just recovering from the effects of the global financial crisis of 2008-09. So, we had to be very cautious in our approach.
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Gulf Property
We found out that despite a sizeable number of deliveries in the luxury villa segment, there was still a strong demand in this category. However, due to the fallout of the 2008-09 crisis, investors and property buyers were hesitant to invest, as they were not sure who to trust. So, we entered the market under a different situation. We needed to establish ourselves as a credible developer. The only way to do this was to focus on the timely delivery of the project and with the promised quality. That’s exactly what we did. Since the first project was
sold out at launch, we were able to start the construction work and finish them in time as payment was not an issue. Property buyers were regularly updated on the construction progress and the payment installments were in place – making it less stressful.
So, what worked for you in the initial sales success, despite not having a strong record of property development and delivery? I think the location was a factor – as you can’t get a better location for a villa community than Meydan – closest to the
new downtown, Burj Khalifa and Business Bay, which is going to become the leading commercial centre. The quality of property, pricing, payment plan and our own reputation in the business world worked for our success. Besides, the timing was also a factor. We sold out the project when the market was just recovering and emerging from the previous crisis and the Dubai Expo bid win revived investor confidence back then. If you remember, the market was really riding high and a large number of developers came back to the market.