Out of the box

Small spaces again

Ismail Al Hammadi

June 29, 2021

According to market developments and investors’ trends during the coming stages, the future today in the real estate market is for residential real estate with large spaces, not only villas that are witnessing unprecedented demand, I mean large residential spaces in general, and perhaps there will not be a wide space for small spaces similar to the space that I had In the market during the previous periods, or rather, "flooded" it, so to speak.

It is a fact that every developer and every contributor to the local real estate scene must realize, and realize that small-sized housing units no longer give their feasibility, which greatly affects the performance of the market.

Proceeding from this fact, all of them should reconsider the housing projects scheduled for implementation and completion in the market, to keep pace with changes in demand and future market trends.

The accuracy of the comparison for the buyer and his awareness of the difference in spaces away from the number of rooms that make up the residential unit, are the biggest controllers in the performance and trends of the market today, and there is no room to escape from this reality, which must be taken as an indicator to pump new updates to the residential real estate production plan, and to make changes in the areas of real estate units in the future.

Why not jump the studio space to more than 550 square feet instead of 380 feet, and why not jump the area of ​​a one-room apartment, from 600 square feet to 800 feet, and why not offer two-bedroom apartments and above with areas of 1200 square feet and more instead of 750 feet, why do we not find those spaces in most of the new residential projects that are under implementation, except for a group of units that are counted on our fingers for a very limited category of development companies.. Why not! Is this difficult or impossible in your opinion?

I realize that there are many factors behind the phenomenon of reducing the areas of housing units that “invaded” the market, specifically with the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, ostensibly to keep pace with the market requirements and the needs of low-income owners to buy and sell as a target group in the first place, but this is no longer beneficial to the market in The current circumstances and in light of the diversity of foreign markets exporting to investors and the diversity of categories of buyers, in addition to the expansion of the segment of end users of real estate thanks to the new facilities and laws that support the enhancement of the stability of individuals in the country.

Based on all of the above, I expect to record a leap in the interior spaces of residential projects, especially apartments, other than those small spaces that the market is currently “sinking” in, which have increased the weight of the supply at the expense of the demand, and I look forward to the entry of different and innovative designs for residential projects in the future. Other than the ones we see today, and I hope those in charge of the sector absorb this idea to keep pace with the demand and adapt to the needs of the new market dealers, and to distribute units and spaces according to regions instead of generalizing them to everyone and unfairly some areas directed specifically to families and families.

For reference, I had previously discussed the issue of small spaces in a previous topic in 2020 entitled “We have had enough of sardine cans,” and again I say it in 2021: “We have had enough of sardine cans.. Is anyone listening?”, and I hope that these words will be included in the “Dubai Urban Plan” 2040».

• "The buyer's accuracy of comparison and his awareness of the difference in spaces are the biggest controllers of the market's performance today."

To read the previous articles of the writer please click on its name.