Oppenheim Group plans to open a real estate office in Dubai in December
US brokerage firm Oppenheim Group, known for the Netflix reality show Selling Sunset, plans to open its first office in the UAE in December, in Dubai’s Bluewaters district. The 6,500-square-foot office will open as part of the company’s first entry into the Middle Eastern market, The National reports.
The company’s expansion is led by Omar Abaza, a longtime friend and business partner of the group’s founder, Jason Oppenheim. The UAE operation will begin with a team of 20 brokers and a portfolio of luxury residential properties in Dubai. The team is expected to expand further, while brokers will also consider sales in Abu Dhabi.
A possible Dubai version of the show
Abaza said that the company has already begun recruiting agents and has reviewed more than 150 applications for broker positions. He expressed hope that, after the office opens, the Selling Sunset team will come to Dubai. According to him, a separate Dubai-based show could eventually emerge from the new office.
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Selling Sunset is in its ninth season and follows premium real estate brokers in Los Angeles, Orange County and Tampa. One of the program’s recognizable features is a bell that agents ring after closing a deal. A place for it at the new office has yet to be determined.
Luxury housing market
The opening of the office comes amid a cooling of Dubai’s luxury real estate segment after several years of record growth. According to Luxury Price Drops, asking prices were reduced for 3,428 premium real estate properties in Dubai in August, while the total reduction in stated value amounted to about 2.4 billion dirhams, or $653.5 million.
At the same time, expensive properties in Dubai continue to be sold and rented out. In March, an apartment measuring about 1,000 square meters on the 87th floor of Burj Khalifa was leased for about 12 million dirhams, or $3.2 million, per year. Jason Oppenheim called the UAE an obvious destination for the group’s first Middle Eastern office and noted Abaza’s role in organizing the expansion.
