Dubai Islands touted as the ‘new Palm’ as wealthy buyers snap up trophy waterfront homes – developer

Global wealth is increasingly targeting exclusive beachfront homes as buyers favour island living on Dubai Islands for privacy, sun and proximity to DIFC, a developer told Arabian Business.

Buyers from Europe, North America and South America are targeting coastal and island-based homes that combine privacy, direct beach access and wellness amenities with longer-term capital growth potential.

The shift is being reinforced by a growing pipeline of residential launches on Dubai Islands, a masterplanned waterfront destination that developers compare to the early rise of Palm Jumeirah.

“They’re looking at Dubai Islands as the new Palm,” said Ishan Khwaja, director at LIV Developers. “On the Palm, you’re not able to play around the golf course and go to the beach and take your boat out from the marina. Dubai Islands presents that opportunity.”

“They want to place their investments there now to have this beautiful second home at a much better price than Palm Jumeirah,” he said. “But they know that it will turn into exactly what happened at Palm Jumeirah, if not better.”

Beachfront living tops buyer priorities

Palm Jumeirah has seen massive price gains over the years as one of Dubai’s most sought-after and tightly held luxury districts, with values surging by more than 140 per cent in some ultra-prime segments between 2020 and 2023 alone.

Khwaja said buyers are increasingly prioritising direct beach access over traditional marina or canal-front locations.

“This attraction to anything to do with beachfront is even stronger than just the normal waterfront views,” he said. “The speed and the demand that we had for anything to do with beach, whether you’re actually on a beach or you’re able to walk to the beach, has been extremely strong.”

He added that European buyers in particular want “that attachment to beachfront living”.

Khwaja said Dubai Islands has matured into “this beautiful waterfront destination”.

“You can actually go visit Dubai Islands today,” he said. “It’s got this beautiful beach. It’s amongst the best in Dubai. It’s got calm, crystal clear waters, a protected cove.”

He pointed to a maturing masterplan that now includes marinas, beaches, parks, golf courses under way and new road links.

“You’ve now got full-fledged marinas, golf courses that are underway, the beaches which exist and parks which exist,” Khwaja said. “And then you now have the new RTA bridge which is progressing and connecting Dubai Islands towards Deira and the DIFC corridor.”

Waterfront homes debut on Dubai Islands

LIV Developers launched LIV Oceanside on Tuesday, a new residential tower on the marina waterfront of Dubai Islands, with two-bedroom units starting at about AED4 million and three-bedroom homes at around AED7 million, according to Khwaja, with larger duplexes and penthouses priced higher.

Khwaja said buyers now view Dubai Islands both as a trophy asset and as a place to live.

“They’re definitely looking for trophy assets,” he said. “We have many buyers that want to say, ‘I want to have the best apartment in Dubai Islands.’”

At the same time, demand is being driven by end users.

“They’re looking at it as their second home,” Khwja said. “They’re looking at it as a place to live. They’re asking about the schools. They’re asking about Healthcare City. They’re asking about DIFC.”

He said this does not remove the investment logic.

“They know that they’ll be able to place it into rentals or to give yields because of its proximity to Healthcare City, Jumeirah, the DIFC, downtown and the connection,” he said.

Khwaja said buyers believe they are entering Dubai Islands at a similar stage to Palm Jumeirah in its earlier years.

“When the government puts this forward as a massive masterplan and things are already under construction and the beach already exists, they see it as the future,” he said.

At the same time, renewed activity is also emerging on the older World Islands development, where ultra-private residential and hospitality projects are now under construction following more than a decade of limited activity.

Arabian Business previously reported that entire islands on the World Islands have traded for up to AED588 million, with villas priced between AED50 million and AED250 million, as ultra-wealthy buyers recently returned following more than a decade of subdued activity.