Dubai South

Hello and welcome back for another edition of our newsletter, providing you with the best unbiased information on the hottest real estate investments in Dubai.

Today we are looking at another extremely promising and growing part of Dubai - Dubai South. Dubai South spans over an area of 145 square kilometers. It will provide more than 500,000 jobs and eventually be home to one million residents.

Now why in the world is this area promising? It’s quite far from Dubai’s traditional prime areas like DIFC, Downtown or Jumeirah and it is not close to the sea either.

Well, there are a number of reasons why property in Dubai South is uniquely positioned to benefit from Dubai’s future growth.

Dubai South is strategically located next to:

• District 2020, the former Expo 2020 site, transforming into an innovation hub; and

• Al Maktoum airport - the most ambitious airport project ever planned - by a long shot

Dubai Government is spending USD 70 billion to promote the area. They are setting up free zones and creating an economic growth center attracting both large international corporations as well as startups and everything in between. Investments into transportation infrastructure in the area are massive. Below are more details about each initiative.

District 2020

The 4.4 km² Expo 2020 site includes cutting edge infrastructure and facilities. It has transformed into District 2020, a hub of economic activity. Focused on innovation, technology and sustainability, this area is expected to create jobs in green technologies, smart city solutions and sustainable construction. District 2020 is also attracting a variety of startup and established businesses. A number of organisations have already moved there. Engie, the French energy provider and global energy transition leader has shifted its regional headquarters to the expo 2020 site. German technology giant Siemens has moved about 450 employees to their new offices close to Al Wasl Dome in the heart of the Expo site. Other anchor tenants include DP World and Emirates Airline. Many tech startups and SMEs have moved in as well. The ecosystem fosters innovation. The state-of-the-art exhibition center built for Expo 2020 drives business to the site. It continues to host many events on its 45,000 square meters of dedicated space. Its 14 halls, 24 meeting rooms and four suites cater to crowds between 200 and 30,000. District 2020 alone is expected to create about 80,000 jobs.

Al Maktoum International Airport

This is not just a normal airport project. Within a decade Al Maktoum Airport will develop into a massive aviation complex. It will be over five times the size of Dubai International Airport (DXB). To put it in perspective, DBX is already the world’s 2^nd largest hub for international passenger traffic. It is also in the top 20 for its cargo volume. Al Maktoum Airport will have 5 runways and 400 gates and be capable of handling 150 million passengers per annum. This is almost 50% more than what Atlanta airport handled in 2023.

It will also be able to handle 12 million tonnes of cargo each year, almost 3 times the amount Hong Kong airport was handling in 2023. Within this period it will completely replace Dubai International Airport which in 2023 has handled almost 87 million passengers and approximately 2 million tonnes of cargo. Eventually Al Maktoum Airport will increase its capacity to 260 million passengers per annum.

Al Maktoum airport will create 500,000 direct jobs. The large number of businesses benefiting from the airport and its link to Jebel Ali port will add many additional jobs.

Government Initiatives

Dubai South further benefits from several government initiatives to promote economic diversification and attract foreign direct investment. Such initiatives include

• a 200 square kilometers customs bonded logistics corridor, allowing cargo movement between Jebel Ali seaport and Al Maktoum airport within 20 minutes.

• the creation of free zones, such as an 18 square kilometers Logistic district and an e-commerce zone, both allowing 100% foreign ownership of companies and benefiting from tax exemptions; as well as

• major investments into infrastructure including the Dubai metro extension and major road upgrades, easing traffic flow.

Villas increased substantially, but still much room to grow

Over the last 3 years, prices of villas and townhouses have already increased substantially. Villas that were launched in 2021 for AED 1.3 million sold for up to 3.6 million in 2024. Apartments however have not yet appreciated equally. Most have stayed close to their launch prices or maybe increased by some 20% over the last few years. Villas and townhouses require a lot of land. With the expected growth in the area, an undersupply of villas and houses is foreseeable. Mid- and high-rise buildings however require much less land, so apartment supply will be able to keep up with demand much longer. Once population in the area however starts getting closer to the projected 1 million inhabitants, both apartments and house prices are poised to jump. We already see launch prices for apartments in the most prime area around the Expo 2020 site (now called District 2020) above AED 2,000 per sqft. In Dubai South Residential District, which is about 10 km from District 2020 and close to the E611 highway, prices are still around AED 1,000 per sqft.

Developments bordering Dubai South, especially villa and townhouse communities, are also well-positioned to benefit from the economic and demographic growth in the area.

At the time of writing this, the following developments were launched in Dubai South:

Many of those buildings are already sold out or have only a few units available. If you want to secure a good unit, you need to be quick. At the launch date the best units are often sold out. If you want to select the unit you like, you need to submit an Expression of Interest to the developer before the launch date together with a refundable deposit.

Below is a list of projects that are just launched or about to be launched:

Further building launches in Terra Heights as well as villas and townhouses in Emaar South are expected.

In order to get informed in time, we offer members a WhatsApp alert service letting them know when new projects get launched.

In case you would like to know more, we can put you in touch with a specialist for Dubai South who can advise on specific opportunities.

Don’t worry, by clicking this button you will not get unwanted calls from pushy agents. The agents we work with are independent from us, go through a stringent continuous selection process and will only contact you in the way and at the time you choose.

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In case you have missed it, here is last week’s issue on Dubai Islands.

Below you can download our eBook explaining what drives the Dubai Property Market.

Stay tuned,

M&M

Important Notice:

The information provided in this newsletter (the “Newsletter”) is a consolidation from different publicly available sources combined with the personal view of the author and for informational purposes only. It does not in any way constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Nothing in the Newsletter or on our website is an offer or advertisement for any specific project or opportunity, but a tool for you to see and compare publicly available information on projects for your own personal purposes. While we give the option to put you in contact with independent agents specializing in different areas, we are neither in control of, nor responsible for any information given by those agents.

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