Dubai adds new $100 million mansions to lure world’s ultra rich

Dubai is adding a new round of luxury mansions and penthouses — some fitted with cinemas, spas and private elevators — as developers court millionaires from around the world.

These ultra-luxury homes are being priced anywhere from $60 million to more than $120 million as house hunters from Europe, Asia and the Americas swoop in. And the trappings are increasingly extravagant, even by the standards of the emirate. 

One builder transported a giant glass wall thousands of miles to give the owner his chosen sea view. Another worked in a private lobby and elevator for the buyer of a penthouse so big that it straddles two towers. Yet another created a movable floor for a client’s swimming pool that rises to meld with the garden tiles during parties. 

Prices across Dubai’s booming property market are moderating after surging since 2021. But that’s not stopping builders from adding the palatial new homes along the city’s priciest beach-front locations. 

“The upper end of the market is the most profitable,” said Mark Phoenix, chief executive officer of Sankari Properties, whose company is building a $1 billion ultra-luxury tower. “If done properly a developer can sell for the maximum sort of prices.”

Dubai’s market is bucking a global trend as prime residential prices slow or drop in many other international markets. 

Last year, 435 homes valued at more than $10 million each were sold in Dubai, reaching a record and surpassing New York and Hong Kong, according to Knight Frank. The property researcher estimates that ultra luxury prices will jump at least another 5% this year in the emirate after surging about 67% since 2021.

Wealthy families shopping globally for second and third homes can still find more space for the same buck in Dubai. On a per square foot basis, prices in the emirate are a third of New York’s and a fifth of London’s, according to Mahdi Amjad, founder of Omniyat, a developer of ultra-luxury apartments. 

“We benchmark our buildings against buildings in New York and we find that for similar ticket prices, or maybe lower ticket prices, you get by far more space and by far more experiences and amenities,” said Amjad, who expects to add another 100 ultra-luxury homes this year. 

Dubai’s builders are often forced to go to extraordinary lengths to compete with international cities. 

On a recent visit to a construction site, Bloomberg News saw a giant glass dome being built in the centre of a mansion. It was meant to cover a pool and spa and could be retracted when the owners wanted to sun themselves. Elsewhere, there are winding pools to allow residents to swim from the bar to the spa at the other end of the garden. 

Dubai’s artificial man-made islands are favoured locations. The mansions on a Dubai’s sea-horse shaped island, known as Billionaire Island, usually come with private beaches and rotating tables for parking that automatically turn cars into the right direction. 

Wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners estimated that 6,700 millionaires came to the United Arab Emirates in 2024, surpassing all other countries. 

But catering to the whims of the global rich isn’t cheap — or easy. 

Adding extravagant amenities means “it costs you a lot more to build with upfront costs for design. That’s where a lot of developers get scared,” Phoenix said. 

Wissam Damaa, founder of property developer Palace Group, had a buyer who wanted an entire wall of his sprawling living room made with a single pane of glass. At 17 meters by 4 meters (55 feet by 13 feet), it was the size of some swimming pools. Damma wasn’t sure he could find an individual pane that size, let alone install it. And the buyer wanted the glass wall to disappear completely at the click of a button for an open sea view. 

When Damaa contacted one of the largest glass manufacturers in Germany, the company took 45 days to decide if it could meet the specifications. It ultimately agreed, but only if another Swiss firm could assemble the mechanical system to move the glass wall. That required an underground room to be built for the giant pane to descend into when it was lowered. Then, special permissions were needed to transport it by ship and truck because of its size. The client ultimately got the look he wanted.  

“Most of our clients have multiple homes in cities across the world and they’re very specific about what they like and what they expect,” said Damaa. He has 15 new mansions under construction along with a 70-apartment building with combined values of 16 billion dirhams ($4.4 billion), he said.

Despite the continued rush to build, brokers and developers say that some of the exuberance of recent years is moderating.

Price increases are slowing and some builders are finding it harder to buy prime locations to build on.

Honey Deylami, an executive partner at Dubai Sotheby’s International Realty, said wealthy buyers are pushing back on price hikes after the years of increases, but demand is still outstripping supply for now. 

“The market is still short of supply of ultra high-end that’s ready to move into,” said Deylami, who sold around 2.7 billion dirhams worth of properties last year. “There is a lot of supply in the pipeline or under construction but that’ll require three to four years before it hits the market.”–Gulf News