Conversations with the people building Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Developers, master brokers and the teams behind the projects clients ask me about.
Most of what is useful about this market is learned in rooms rather than reports. What follows is a running note of those conversations and the part of each one worth repeating.
Head of Sales, Emaar Properties
A working relationship that goes back to 2014, across Dubai Hills Estate, Emaar Beachfront, Dubai Creek Harbour, Arabian Ranches and The Valley. Emaar sets the pace for the rest of the market, so sales leadership there is where you hear first what is actually moving.
Head of Sales, Dubai Holding Real Estate
Sales leadership across Meraas and Nakheel. These are the developers Amber Homes has been named Top Platinum Sales Agency for four years running, so this is the relationship closest to the work. What matters in a conversation like this is not inventory access but where absorption is actually landing across the master communities, and which product types are moving before that shows up anywhere public.
Chief Commercial Officer, Modon Properties
Modon and ADIB introduced Abu Dhabi first off-plan home financing in July, funding up to 75 per cent of value on future Modon developments against roughly 15 per cent paid through construction. The emirate has not had that before. It changes who is able to buy, not what they pay.
Director of Sales, Modon Properties
Sales leadership across Hudayriyat Island and the wider Modon portfolio. Absorption is visible inside a developer long before it reaches a press release, and it is the number that decides whether a launch price holds.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Cledor
Two decades across JLL, DAMAC, Emaar and Dubai Holding before founding Cledor, and now also Managing Director of Mira Developments. Arthouse on Al Marjan Island is the clearest live test of whether Ras Al Khaimah pricing holds with the gaming premium already in it.
Founder, LightHouse Properties
We go back to his Dubai Properties Group days. LightHouse now sits between developer and market on Arthouse, Gianfranco Ferre Residences and Trussardi Phase II, alongside his own Mira Hills. That seat gives a read on demand that launch announcements do not.
Chief Executive Officer, Samana Developers
Samana runs one of the highest launch cadences in Dubai mid-market apartments, across Dubailand, JVC and Dubai Production City. Volume at that end of the market says more about 2028 and 2029 handover supply than most forecasts do.
Meetings noted here are market conversations and introductions. They do not imply an advisory, agency or representation arrangement.
Acquiring, holding and disposing of residential, off-plan and selected commercial property across Dubai — assessed through location, product, price, liquidity and timing.
Government-backed master developers — Dubai Holding Real Estate, Meraas, Nakheel and Dubai Properties — alongside selected opportunities from Emaar, Wasl, Dubai South Properties, Aldar and Majid Al Futtaim.
Private investors, family offices, international buyers and developers seeking disciplined, evidence-based guidance rather than sales narratives.