INTERVIEW

72 Gulf Property

When CEO OriolFont launched‘Luxhabitat’ abrokerage firmtrading in luxury

properties in Dubai, peoplequestioned why. It was mid-2009 when he started thebusiness and the global eco-nomic recession which befellDubai in late 2008, wasgrinding the real estate sec-tor with all its might.

At a time when peoplewere quitting the market,Font, a Catalan entrepreneurfrom Barcelona, living inDubai, started Luxhabitat outof a plush office in DubaiMedia City. It comprises anefficient team of 25, out ofwhich 15 are sales agents.But initially generating busi-ness was difficult, he admits.

The hurdlesBesides the financial crashthat had pounded the Dubaireal estate market, there wasanother significant challengethat Font faced. Luxhabitatwas trying to introduce theconcept of boutique luxuryproperties, something thatwas unprecedented not justin Dubai, but also in the en-tire region.

Although the luxury cate-gory is an established mar-

ket in many Western nations,none in the Middle East andNorth Africa (MENA) regionhad yet traded exclusively inthe high-end sector, as Lux-habitat did, according toFont.

Thus Luxhabitat’s first cou-ple of years after launchwere consumed in trying toexplain to people what it wasall about and the type ofservices it was providing toits clientele. The companywas precisely educating themarket, trying to explain thedifference between Luxhabi-tat and ‘any other mass-mar-ket real estate company’.

“In the beginning it wasquite difficult. Depending onthe nationalities of the clientswe had to explain to themwhat we do, because theywere not used to companiesfocussing on high-end resi-dential properties,” Font ex-plains.

“Clients from mature realestate markets such as Eu-rope and the US are used toit, because there are compa-nies focused on this nichemarket. But here in the re-gion the concept did notexist, so obviously we had tospend some time with clientsfrom the GCC, India andPakistan, and also fromAfrica. We explained our

concept, how we were differ-ent from our competitors, theway we approach the busi-ness, how do we market ourproperties and also how dowe service our buyers andsellers.”

But Font held on despitethe odds and the vagaries ofthe market. Pre-2008, he ex-plains, the Dubai market wasprimarily investor-driven.“Typically investors beforethe recession did not paymuch attention to a crucialaspect of our business: qual-ity. They didn’t pay attentionto the layout, the materialsused, the design and the de-

velopment the facilities; be-cause they were interestedin just buying and selling theproperty as quickly as possi-ble. So they did not caremuch about the essentialconcepts of property that arecentral to an end-user’s de-cision,” Font recollects.

The economic bust forcedout many speculators and in-vestors playing in the marketfor making a quick buck.Such elements were re-placed by the end-users,which Font considered ahighly positive transforma-tion. “So we saw the marketchanging from an investor-focussed market to onewhere the end-users wouldstart to play a much biggerrole. We saw a significantchange in the market andthat is when we decided tolaunch Luxhabitat, where wefocus on the luxury high-endresidential market. And ourclients are mostly end-users,” he justifies.

Going strongThe patience and resiliencepaid off. After the worst of theeconomic recession got over,Dubai began to re-emergepost-2010. Authorities beganworking round the clock toboost market sentiments,

By Indrajit SenSenior Reporter

Luxury has a newname: Luxhabitat

A Dh55 million-worth plush villain Al Barari community thatLuxhabitat is selling

Luxury has a newname: Luxhabitat

“In the beginning it wasquite difficult.Depending on thenationalities of theclients we had toexplain to them what wedo, because they werenot used to companiesfocussing on high-endresidential properties...”

– Oriol FontCEO, Luxhabitat

INTERVIEW

Gulf Property 73

nation. So Dubai has done agood job in several sectorssuch in hospitality where youhave several hotels that areinternational benchmarks butin the residential real estatemarket the quality that de-mand HNWIs is still notthere. We clearly believethere is room for improve-ment, and the opportunity issubstantial for those real es-tate developers that are will-ing to cover this gap” Fontopines.

In the past 5 years, “wehave had many clients com-ing from other internationalhubs expecting the find bet-

safeguard the economy froma similar crash in future andintroduced measures to re-gain the confidence of globalinvestors.

High Net Worth Individuals(HNWIs) responded withwarmth and started returningto Dubai with their wealthand businesses. And theirnumbers have been growingever since.

“That’s why we feel our ap-proach (to cater to the high-end market) is right. The factthat we are focussed onhigh-end residential drivesthe way we sell our proper-ties. How we present ourproducts reflects upon theprofile of our sales team, be-cause as I said we are deal-ing with HNWIs and thatrequires a suitable profile,”Font states.

Luxhabitat began receivingglobal clients, when theDubai market reboundedwith great resolve in the af-termath of the recession.“We are having clients com-ing from major establishedmarkets like London, andthey expect products to be ofvery high quality.

The expectation is alsohigh because Dubai hasdone a good job marketingthe city internationally andbranding it as a luxury desti-

ter quality properties inDubai. As I said before, thequality in the residential realestate sector is not goodenough for a good number ofthem. For that reason, welaunched an in-house high-end interior design service toupgrade the properties totheir standards. We providea bespoke service takingcare of the entire processand we have assembled avery professional team that isable to deliver exceptionalproperties’.

Presently, Luxhabitat con-centrates on properties in afew ‘high-quality residentialareas’, where they are confi-dent of bagging good prod-ucts; they have 484 luxuryproducts in their portfolio cur-rently. For villas, the firm con-centrates on areas such asEmirates Hills, PalmJumeirah, Al Barari,Jumeirah Golf Estates, andthen also sources the bestupgraded properties in areassuch as Meadows, ArabianRanches, among others. Forpenthouses and apartments,they focus on districts suchas the Downtown, DIFC andDubai Marina, as Font feelsseveral projects in these lo-cations ‘has the right qualityfor our clients’. Even in theseearmarked locations, Lux-

habitat does ‘business onlyin pockets’ and ‘in certainhandpicked buildings’; for ex-ample Le Reve Tower inDubai Marina, which Font re-veals is one of their corebuildings.

Given their emphasis onhigh-end residential property,Font reveals that Luxhabitatmostly sells properties whichare above Dh5 million only.“The real focus is on quality.Few times we also do sellproperties below Dh5 million,but it has to be of good qual-ity and in a good location.The average property trans-action in 2014 was Dh14 mil-lion,” he says. g

Oriol Font, CEO of Luxhabitat

484luxury products in their

portfolio currently

Dh5 millionprice cap above which thecompany sells properties

Dh14 millionworth the average propertytransaction for the company

in 2014

At A Glance

“We saw the marketchanging from aninvestor-focussedmarket to one where theend-users would startto play a much biggerrole. We saw asignificant change inthe market and that iswhen we decided tolaunch Luxhabitat,where we focus on theluxury high-endresidential market. Andour clients are mostlyend-users...”

– Oriol FontCEO, Luxhabitat