One of Dubai’s leading private property developers has predicted that demand for homes and offices in Dubai will continue to exceed supply for the next few years.

Mehdi Amjad, President and CEO of Omniyat Holdings and Omniyat Properties, said forecasts that demand will cool down in 2008 and 2009 were not based on reality. 

He said the imbalance between supply and demand in Dubai’s buoyant real estate market is expected to continue well into the next decade with the sector anticipating a new wave of investors from a completely different demographic profile.

Speaking in response to increasing speculation about supply and demand figures for the emirate, Amjad argues that with the expected doubling of Dubai’s population in five to eight years, massive demand for property will continue. “The whole bubble theory is a bubble that has been burst,” Amjad said.

“We keep hearing that the balance between supply and demand will be realised in 2008 or 2009. People who are saying that are not actively involved in the Dubai market, but just commenting on it from their ivory towers based on their experience in other markets. We all know Dubai is different. Dubai has His Highness Sheikh Mohammed,” he said. 

Amjad said the Dubai market is hungry for new property and is continuing to absorb new launches even as more and more buildings and are being delivered all over Dubai, a fact that was displayed with the delivery of recent projects such as International City and Jumeirah Beach Residence. 

“A lot of people were predicting that the release of JBR and before that International City would lead to a decrease in demand, but it was a drop in the ocean! More than 25,000 units in JBR alone were delivered and they were all absorbed into the market without even causing a small dent in demand,” he said.

Amjad said Dubai is aggressively targeting population growth, and that will lead to growth in demand for real estate. “The government is building a city for five million people whereas today we have fewer than two. Quite simply, this means that whatever is supplied now will not be enough and won’t be for many years to come,” he noted. 

However, whilst demand will continue to outweigh supply, it will not be as extreme as it has been in the last two years, said the Omniyat chief, adding that Dubai’s leaders are pulling out all the stops to find the best solutions to achieve a balance between supply and demand.

“The Dubai government is doing all it can to meet the demand. It is making more land available for development and it is controlling the cost of raw materials such as cement. It’s attracting new developers and new construction companies whilst also providing facilities and the necessary legislation to protect investors, developers, and home buyers,” he said.

Amjad said that as more construction capacity comes onto the market and with new players from all over the world becoming involved, more projects will be delivered on time. “Currently there are a lot of projects which are late because some developers find it difficult to ensure their construction companies remain on schedule. At Omniyat Properties, we manage to do that very well,” he said.

“No other country in the world is doing what Dubai is and at such a pace. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said recently that those who said that the real estate bubble would burst are now running after it as it vanishes into the sky!”

And with regard to criticism that many of Dubai’s developments have been geared towards wealthy clientele, Amjad explains that this is a normal trend for new real estate markets.

“With any market just starting out, there are the pioneers who can afford to take the highest risks. These are the wealthy segment and the products which were offered by developers in Dubai in th