Dubai’s freehold offices see a sales spike ahead of VAT
Owners of office properties in Dubai have something to cheer about. In recent months, sales of freehold office units have been showing steady gains, especially the strata-titled units at JLT (Jumeirah Lake Towers) and Business Bay. Around 1,200 office units were sold between January and end November, up 14 per cent from last year’s tally for the same period. Business Bay makes up nearly half of the total for this year, helped on by a sales spike of 22 per cent. JLT units tallied 337 transactions during the period, down 11 per cent on 2016. There could be heightened activity in December ahead of the VAT implementation. All commercial property dealings are subject to the 5 per cent VAT, which could explain why investors want to acquire units now. For long it was felt that strata-owned offices in Dubai were a difficult sell. Potential tenants, especially the blue-chip names, wanted to deal with a single landlord for their space requirements rather than a multitude of them. Plus, m
