While that may not be welcome news for off-plan investors hoping to soon pick up their keys, a more protracted handover schedule is better for market stability and in the long term helps protect the value of buyers’ investments.

“As most local developers rely on purchase funds to complete the project, the construction timeline is at best an estimation – an estimation of how quickly they’ll sell as well as how quickly they can construct,” says Propertyfinder CCO, Lukman Hajje.

“Thankfully, these days, legislation requires that progress payments be linked to construction milestones. This offers purchasers some assurance that their funds must be used appropriately but it doesn’t protect them against slow project sales, hold-ups due to supplier, contractor and/or local government compliances issues or unfavorable market conditions. Any of which may force or encourage developers to delay handover.”

Nearly 15,000 new residential units were handed over in 2016, the highest level since 2012, industry consultants JLL revealed this month. Officially, 31,000 units are scheduled for completion this year, but like propertyfinder.ae, JLL also expects actual deliveries to be lower than announced.

“There is an internal market correction mechanism within the system. While not great for a purchaser who’s waiting to receive their shiny new property; whether by design or accident, delayed handovers have helped stabilize market fluctuations over the past decade and are expected to continue to play that role,” says Hajje.

“If there is sufficient demand from purchasers, sales will take place on schedule and projects will be handed over on time. If sales are slow, it will be largely due to market conditions and insufficient demand and as a result, projects in the pipeline will take longer to sell and construct.”

[This article was originally published at the Arabian Post and other publications across the UAE].