Aldar Properties is seeing a surge in demand for homes, largely driven by foreign buyers, according to Bloomberg. In an interview, Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Aldar Properties, said the company has increased the number of new projects from about two or three a year in 2008 to 14 new projects this year.
Al Mubarak noted that the company’s development projects have grown eightfold, which he said is due to an increase in foreign buyers from Asia and Europe. He said the company’s share of international buyers has grown to 30% this year, up from 11% in 2021.
Bloomberg pointed to the efforts of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which has put in place plans worth $10 billion to attract expatriates to live there and boost tourism, and is building the Guggenheim Museum and has the Louvre Museum.
The emirate is investing billions of dollars in sprawling theme parks, five-star hotels, luxury homes, sports complexes and high-end office towers as it looks to diversify the economy and cater to global financial giants such as Brevan Howard Asset Management and Greg Covey’s Kirkoswald Asset Management, which have set up offices in the emirate.
Al Mubarak, who is also chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, said the emirate would need to increase hotel rooms by 60% to accommodate the growing demand from tourists who flock there even during the hottest summer months.
It is estimated that Abu Dhabi will need to build 20,000 hotel rooms over the next five years to expand its hospitality supply of about 33,000 rooms. Even during the summer months, which are usually quiet with temperatures soaring above 45 degrees Celsius, Abu Dhabi has seen a significant increase in tourist numbers because most of its tourist attractions are indoors rather than outdoors.
Al Mubarak said the emirate saw about 5.3 million tourists last year and is expected to see more than 6 million this year. “The feeling has always been that when summer comes here it’s so hot everyone leaves and this summer has been the busiest in terms of tourist numbers in our development history,” Al Mubarak said.
Bloomberg reported that the upcoming project in Abu Dhabi is The Sphere; This circular building is covered in LED lights and provides fans of concerts and other shows with a very immersive experience.