Harcourts expands into United Arab Emirates

Harcourts expands into United Arab Emirates

30 October, 2015

Harcourts Real Estate Group has opened its first office in the United Arab Emirates.

The Dubai office is owned by former Harcourts New Zealand husband and wife team, Trevor and Margaret Lyall together with son-in-law Mohammad (Moe) Abeidat, a Jordanian-Canadian, and local Emirati businessman, Mohammed Salem Al Shamsi.

Mr Lyall says there is a lot of opportunity for a quality real estate group in Dubai, as trust in local real estate companies is not high in Dubai’s current property market.

“Having worked under the Harcourts brand in the past, it was a natural fit for us to align ourselves with Harcourts in Dubai, we take the responsibility of representing the Harcourts name and values very seriously,” says Mr Lyall.

Both Trevor and Margaret Lyall have worked in real estate in New Zealand for 20 year, moving into business ownership in 2007 with Harcourts Wairoa. The sold that business earlier this year ahead of the move to Dubai, “because we can’t resist a challenge and an adventure”.

For Mr and Mrs Lyall, and Mr Abeidat, who has previously enjoyed living and working in Dubai, part of the attraction to setting up a real estate office in Dubai is that real estate represents 25% of gross domestic product.

Property is also a continually growing market with demand still outweighing supply despite more than 400,000 residential properties and 40-60,000 newly built units coming onto the market each year.

“The property market in Dubai is driven by demand for high quality apartments and villas with a gradual shift in focus to meet an increased demand for more affordable housing for middle income earners”, says Mr Lyall.

Harcourts is New Zealand’s largest real estate company, which was founded here in 1888. It now has almost 800 offices in nine countries.

Harcourts NZ CEO Hayden Duncan says it is fantastic to see a New Zealand real estate company represented in the rapidly growing Dubai market.

“Trevor and Margaret know our company inside out, and are big believers in our core values. They will be outstanding ambassadors for Harcourts in Dubai offering their local clients the same high standard of professionalism our customers can expect the world over,” he says.

“That combined with the strong local market will see this business go from strength to strength.”

Harcourts International Growth Manager, Dean Wilkinson commented on Dubai’s significant population and economic growth over the past decade.

“Over the past decade, the UAE and Dubai in particular has seen some of the fastest population growth of any country globally. This coupled with the thriving economy has made the UAE a logical destination for Harcourts.

“Dubai is also home to some of the largest property developments in the world. With Harcourts on the ground in Dubai, we are now able to plug our existing global network into opportunities in the UAE”, says Mr Wilkinson.

Harcourts International managing director, Mike Green says the expansion into Dubai is a significant one for the Harcourts Group both in terms of the strategic importance of the Dubai market within the world market and as another step in Harcourts’ aspiration of becoming a truly global brand.

“We are extremely excited with this next step in our global expansion and the opportunities this will create for our entire organisation.”

The new office in Dubai is now open.

ENDS

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