Nakheel sells land

Nakheel has started to sell land to villa owners Dubai - Arabstoday Nakheel, the developer of The Palm in Dubai, has started to sell land to villa owners, enabling them to extend their gardens. It is the latest attempt by Nakheel to generate fresh revenues from its flagship project where it recently resumed development with the launch of two housing projects. "There is a strong demand from Palm villa owners wanting to expand their garden area," said Nakheel in a statement. "As a result, we are giving them the chance to do so by purchasing extra land." Garden villas on The Palm cover more than 5,000 square feet and sell for between Dh8 million (US$2.1m) and Dh13m according to broker listings. The Palm Jumeirah is benefiting from returning demand in the high-end villa market, with the outlook for the rest of the year remaining "strong", according to the latest report from CBRE. "We have had an excellent response so far, with many sales confirmed and more applications currently being assessed," a Nakheel spokeswoman added. Nakheel last week reported a net profit of Dh362m in the first quarter of the year compared with a Dh36m loss a year earlier, helped by income from handing over finished properties. It made a profit of Dh1.3 billion last year, up 33 per cent on 2010. Last month, the developer launched Palm Views on the island, a collection of 192 studio apartments aimed at younger residents. Construction on the project is expected to begin by the end of the year, with completion slated for the first quarter of 2014. Nakheel is also working on a new development of town houses on The Palm - the first project to be launched by the developer since the 2008 financial crisis.