Dubai sets new record with sale of Palm Jumeirah mansion for $82 million

A mansion built on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah island has become the most expensive home to be sold in the Persian Gulf emirate, the latest real-estate record as the city’s luxury property sales surge. 

The villa, called Casa Del Sole, fetched 302.5 million dirhams ($82.4 million) when it was sold in July, according to its developer Alpago Properties. 

The firm declined to name the buyer, citing privacy concerns. The mansion was bought without a mortgage, according to partially redacted title deed seen by Bloomberg. 

The mansion is built on Frond G of the tree-shaped artificial island Palm Jumeirah, and stands on a stretch of land known as Billionaires’ Row. 

Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s firm previously set the record after buying for $80 million a 10-bedroom villa for his youngest son on the island, people familiar with the matter said in August.

Property prices have climbed in Dubai over the past year as the government’s handling of the pandemic and its liberal visa policies have attracted more expats. 

In particular, the luxury end of the real-estate market has benefited from a slew of new government policies such as long-term "golden visas.” "We developed six villas and have nearly sold all of them,” Murat Ayyildiz, founder and chairman at Alpago Group said in an interview. 

Casa Del Sole, still partially under construction, will be completed in early 2023 and is set to have eight bedrooms and 18 bathrooms. The amenities will include a gym, cinema, bowling alley, jacuzzi and a basement car parking that fits 15 vehicles. It’s one of six villas developed by Alpago on the Palm Jumeirah. The cheapest of those sold for 128 million dirhams, according to the firm.  

Sales of homes valued at 100 million dirhams and above have surged this year with 12 transactions compared to 5 in 2021, according to Prathyusha Gurrapu, head of research and advisory at Core.

"This has been a bumper year for Prime residential transactions overall,” Gurrapu said. "If you look at transactions with values of above 10 million dirhams or above 20 million dirhams, pretty much all ticket sizes saw an increase in sales.”