Hi Guys ............. this is gonna be very long and boring, thus, my apologies but please bear till the end as I do hope it's informative, especially for those residing outside the UAE.

I do work for DAMAC and I think I can answer some of your objections and put things in a more clearly prospective.

Though I haven't been long working for DAMAC (4 months), I had been living in the UAE for 28 years, not only did I witness the massive transformation of this country as well as its economy (whether stock market or property), It had to many an impact on me each step of the way.

I believe, most of the old residents like me are not happy with the change, our rents increased more than 4 folds, inflation has become very high and our salaries are barely catching up to our daily expenses.

Never the less, the new comers find it more attractive and promising as they did not enjoy the old simple life of the UAE.

The problem is the country has changed, and residents have to adapt with this ongoing change.

DAMAC !!

I must admit that when I first joined DAMAC, I had my own reservations on the company's policies; I would say that DAMAC among other big companies are manipulating the market price and that in terms is affecting the economy and our lives in a big way given the important role of property market in Dubai today and property development.

The most difficult property to sell is DAMAC's, yet their every launch is a sell-out!!!

After observing the market intensely and after extensive researches I had to admit, that I am NOW convinced with DAMAC policy, and I can justify it..

PALM SPRINGS?!?!?

Firstly, DAMAC was protected through the contract, had they insisted on their decision then the project would have been cancelled, neither Nakheel nor RERA would have had a say on it.

DAMAC decided to continue with the project, crashing most disdainers claims that the reasons for cancellation was because DAMAC would either suffer huge loses, or wanted to entertain more profit, and if that was true, then I believe DAMAC is the victim here in pursuing the project and honoring it's clients.

The compensation DAMAC offered on time of canceling the project was higher than the EIBOR and in a different market it would have been lucrative and appealing, but of course it's not the least satisfactory to the investors' greed that usually buys to flip and is used to get 100% return on their paid capital, lets not forget that such greed is creating a false demand and is the major reason for property price increase in addition to other factors pertaining to labor costs and construction material cost.
Any investment is subject to a win lose situation, unfortunately investors in the UAE market seem to eliminate the risk factor from their minds, there are many issues to be addressed which people are not considering, and the palm springs incident though amicably resolved it teaches us a lesson and opens our mind to different risks in this market.
To conclude this mater, DAMAC's reversed its decision and will continue the project out of good will, and for that I salute them.


OVER PRICED PROJECTS!?!?!

It’s a pity that if I want to buy now a house in greens (standard quality), I will be paying three times what it was worth year's back.
The same quality of steel, cement & concrete was used as now, so why is that? And how can I be satisfied as an end user knowing that? But the market demands such a price and there is nothing we can do about it.

Inflation is hitting 11%, interest rates are low and dropping making way for more cash in the market, huge demand and shortfall in housing coupled with greedy investors' demand.
Oil reaching an unperceived prices, labor charges, material costs increasing 30-40% every year for the past 5 years, projects delays, contractor problems and developers unable to deliver on time due to all of the above factors.

DAMAC foresee all the above provisions, and their pricing is based on 6 months ahead in order not to fall a prey and to be able to deliver on time, as delivery is the most important factor of a developer's reputation.
This method is becoming a benchmark for all developers, if you research further, you will know that many small developers selling off-plan on cheap prices are facing problems in continuing their projects and we are expecting a 20-30% increase in off-plan prices every where in a months time.

RERA is doing a good job in imposing one law after the other tightening the rope around hasty developers' necks, if prices are not increased to suit the developers demand then the investors should expect many more Palm Springs incidents.

If you check DAMAC prices in Abu Dhabi, it's exactly within the market price, as all other developers had followed behind.

Over-all I agree that prices are over exaggerated, and will definitely reach absurd levels, but the market is set for that. Burj Dubai is selling for a record of AED 11800 per sqft and the Donald Trump breaking the record by selling for approx. AED 13000 per sqft. (Can u imagine a studio going for AED 10 million) and that is off-plan. I am eager to see the level the prices will reach in 2017 when all the projects are over.


DELAYED COMPLETION FOR YEARS FOR ALL PROJECTS.

Which developer delivered on time? Some developers haven't even delivered anything till date. But being a conglomerate in its own league with massive and effective advertising DAMAC would be by far the most publicly judged for their delays because the public mostly know DAMAC.

What is the general reason behind such delays, other than the obvious factors?

Simply, the country didn't anticipate many problems related to this property boom, such as the high level of inflation and increase in prices with apparent shortage in steel and cement supplies.
Many government entities were founded as a prerequisite due to the demand of market, like the RTA for example, many mega developments had to be revamped as to avoid future problems such as congestions (streets, metros, flyovers, trams and more). Leading to delays in handing the plots to private developers.

As for DAMAC, they had delivered 648 homes and shops till date, and an addition of 572 homes and shops this May (lake terrace in JLT).

1765 homes, offices and shops in their final stages to be delivered in 2008 (Tera Del Sol 1&2, Lake View, Executive Heights and the Cresent 1,2 & 3)

3661 homes, offices & shops to be delivered in 2009 (Park Towers, Smart Heights, Tuscan residences, Business tower, XL Tower, emirates gardens 1&2 and Lago Vista 1,2 &3)

3490 homes and offices to be delivered by 2010 (All our Jordan Projects and Business Bay projects).

The way I see it, DAMAC will be the busiest developer delivering in the upcoming 3 years so keep your judgments till then as it should become the talk of town.

My advice to all investors is to study the market well, and to look for mid term to long term investments instead of the short term, and to hold on to their investments, its healthier to the market and brings higher returns and growth.

Most greedy investors who buy to flip and are looking for fast returns, can't even afford to pay more than 20% of the investment value, if anything goes wrong they will get badly affected. Imagine the government decides that its time to encourage and revive the end user market (in order to stabilize the market) and passes a law that no one can flip till 60% or 70% is paid, what's gonna happen, investors who can't afford to stay in the market will either lose their investments or will tend to desperate sales.

If you read this and you agree to it, then BUY DAMAC 

Best regards

Tarek Ibrahim