UAE developer reaches milestone in just over two and a half years
Arada has announced that it has now sold 5,000 units, a little over two and a half years since it launched its first project. The UAE developer reached the milestone following an exceptional sales performance in the year so far, which has been driven by strong demand in its wide range of investor-friendly products, as well as rising interest in ‘New Sharjah’, the area in which both its communities are based.
Construction progress at Arada’s two communities, Nasma Residences and Aljada, is also on schedule. The developer is on track to hand over the first homes in Aljada, Sharjah’s largest ever mixed-use real estate project, in the first quarter of 2020, and will also deliver all five phases of Nasma Residences in the second quarter of 2020.
HE Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Arada, said: “We have always been confident that there would be strong demand for our communities, but to have reached this milestone in such a short time really reflects the enormous amount of trust that our buyers have placed in us. We are especially grateful to the Government of Sharjah for a succession of regulatory amendments that have really opened up this market, allowing people from all over the world to buy homes here. In addition, we are also delighted to see that the property market in the Emirate as a whole is also performing well, alongside clear evidence of rising interest in New Sharjah locations.”
Recent data have shown that Sharjah’s property market is bucking the trend of a general slowdown in the real estate sector across the UAE. In early November, Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department (SRERD), the government regulator, announced that the number of transactions that had taken place in the Emirate had risen by 31.4% during the third quarter, compared to the same period a year earlier. In the year to date, AED18.9 billion has been invested into Sharjah real estate, already 84% of the total for the whole of last year.
In particular, investor interest has focused on New Sharjah, the rapidly developing area outside the traditional city centre where both of Arada’s projects, Aljada and Nasma Residences, are based. Research carried out by real estate consultancy Savills in October showed that enquiry levels across these locations rose by 50% between the first and second quarter of 2019, with demand expected to continue for the remainder of the year.
In September, Arada announced that its sales in the first eight months of 2019 were up by 30% compared to the same period a year before. Those results were driven not only by the strength of the Sharjah market, but also the release of new investor-friendly products such as Nest, the student housing complex based within Aljada, which enables individual real estate investors to purchase directly in this lucrative asset class for the first time in the Gulf. By offering guaranteed return on investment of 10% annually for a 10-year period, Nest has already witnessed significant success since its launch in March, and is now almost sold out.
Located in Muwaileh, Aljada is a master-planned destination with a sales value of AED24 billion that is set to transform the future of Sharjah, and was unveiled by HH Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, during an exclusive ceremony in September 2017.
Sharjah’s largest ever mixed-use community, Aljada is ideally situated on the last major plot of undeveloped land in the heart of the city. The 24 million square foot megaproject has exceptional connectivity to surrounding areas, and is an all-encompassing district that comprises considerable retail, leisure and entertainment options, in addition to a wide range of residential and commercial offerings. The first phase of the Aljada Central Hub, the UAE’s newest leisure and entertainment destination, which has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, will be opened before the end of this year.
Arada’s first project, Nasma Residences, was launched in March 2017 in Al Tay. Featuring landscaped parks, two retail centres, a GEMS international school, plenty of sports facilities and a mosque, Nasma Residences sets a new standard for Sharjah communities. Construction on Nasma Residences began last year, and Arada is currently in the process of handing over homes in Phase 2 of the project.