Flood resilience now a top priority for property buyers

In April 2024, Indian expat Sumayya Khan and her husband were shopping for their forever home in Sharjah. Having lived in the UAE all their lives, they wanted to make a real estate investment in which they hoped to live with their daughters. It was between their hunt that the torrid April 16 floods took place.

- Nasreen Abdulla [e-mail]

“Some of the communities we were looking at were completely flooded,” she recalled. “That is when we noticed that Sharjah Sustainability City was fairly flood resistant. As soon as we visited, we put down our deposit and booked a house.

“The following week, when we came fora tour, the real estate agent said that all the remaining units in the community had been snapped up that week by others like us who were impressed by how the floods did not impact it. We feel like the

rain was a good litmus test for us to make our final decision.“

One year after record-breaking rains swept across the UAE, real estate experts say more buyers are now asking about a community’s flood resilience before committing to a purchase.

“Almost 50 per cent of my buyers ask me about the flooding, but it is not always a deal breaker,” said Jeff Raju Kuruvilla, CEO of Manifest Real Estate.