After ‘second salary’ scheme in UAE, National Bonds opens up another Dh1b

Dubai: After launches of pension and ‘second salary’ investment schemes, National Bonds is going in another direction with its latest – an offplan property launch. The Dh1 billion project in Dubai Hills feature 399 upscale apartments and comes to market when demand for offplan homes – especially luxury ones – is at its peak.

Dubai Hills certainly has been a beneficiary of that demand, recording value gains of close to triple-digits over the last 10 years and more.

This is the space that National Bonds through its real estate arm National Properties is venturing into. The ‘399 Hills Park’ will have a tight three-year project timeline, and the developer will look to mine the rich seam of interest that exists for Dubai Hills properties with high networth investors.

Depending on the investor’s budget, Dubai Hills, Tilal Al Ghaf and Damac Lagoons represent three community-themed locations that have seen buyer interest over the recent past. Sobha Realty came in recently with a Dubailand project, while Emaar’s Beachfront and the latest iteration of Arabian Ranches too have had traction.

Through National Properties, National Bonds has a decent-sized freehold property portfolio, and there are also real estate investments outside of the UAE that it tends to hold longer for solid returns.

On its latest project, the one-bedroom starts at Dh1.5 million, a pricing sweet spot that’s been quite popular with buyers going by data over the first four months. Two-bedrooms at the 399 Hills Park are Dh2.4 million and a three-bed from Dh3.4 million.

National Properties has no immediate interest in launching offplan office projects. Instead, it will wait to see how the dynamic plays out in the Dubai office market in terms of supply and demand. “If conditions are right, we could consider buying offices,” the CEO said.