Dubai firm announces real estate auction service with real-time bidding
A real estate auction service recently announced by a Dubai-based property valuation platform aims to secure sales within approximately 30 days from listing through to completion. The service, licensed by the Dubai Land Department (DLD), allows sellers to auction their property for free, and offers an “optional marketing package available on a success-only basis”, which means they’ll only pay once the property sells, according to YallaValue.
“We’re launching next month, so no properties are formally listed yet — but the response from sellers has been stronger than expected,” said Jack Sellers, founder of YallaValue. “We opened our seller registration a little less than a week ago and we already have a pipeline of serious, qualified sellers. Frankly, that surprised us. We anticipated that sellers would require a fairly high degree of education regarding the auction format, but in fact many are already familiar with it and actively looking for an alternative to the traditional listing model.”
The move comes at a time of uncertainty in the market due to the regional conflict. The gap between what sellers expect and what buyers will pay has widened during this time, the platform said, which has made some listings take longer to sell.
Most property owners in Dubai are not pricing their properties below pre-regional conflict levels, according to industry experts, despite the fact that property buyers are looking for distress sales. Although there clearly is uncertainty, the price declines are not big enough to categorize them as “distressed assets”.
“When markets are uncertain, one of the worst things a seller can do is sit on an overpriced listing for months and wait for a buyer who may never arrive,” Sellers said. “Auctions create urgency and transparency. The market set the price, not the agent. In a market like this one, that’s not just helpful, it’s essential.”
Alternative sales channel
Property auctions are a mainstream sales channel in markets like the UK, Australia and United States where they are used for a broad spectrum of residential and commercial properties, according to the company.
Quoting “overseas evidence”, Sellers noted transactions throughout Australia, New Zealand and Singapore demonstrate auction premiums as high as 3-15 per cent on traditional sales in non-distressed circumstances.
“The circumstances where auctions perform better are well known: regions and properties with high demand and hence deep pools of buyers. The economics is simple — bringing together multiple qualified buyers in a transparent, time-limited process yields better price discovery than private one-to-one negotiations,” he added.
Previously, auctions in Dubai were restricted to court-sponsored execution sales and bank-repossessed properties.
“There is a misconception in Dubai that auctions are reserved for distressed properties,” Sellers added. “In mature markets, auctions are the mechanism of choice for sellers who need certainty — having a set date, competitive tension and achieving your transaction at true market value. The Dubai market is sophisticated enough to handle this. It’s long overdue.”
How the real estate auction service works
The company announced its initial focus is to open in Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) followed by locations throughout the emirate.
In mid-May a new model was launched, requiring all properties to be listed with a reserve price established by multiple valuations and for pre-qualified bidders to participate in a timed online auction. The mechanism involves identity verification requirements and real-time bidding– including mechanisms to extend the bidding window if last-minute offers are submitted.
Our target is 30 days from listing to hammer: a 3-week pre-auction marketing period when bidders can register and made sealed offers, followed by an intense 48-hour auction with the final hour live streamed,” noted Sellers.
“As the auction is open to cash buyers only, we anticipate DLD transfer on completion will occur within 1 week of auction closing. The reality is that current market listings are generally taking 2 to 3 months to sell — and that’s before you factor in deal collapses through financing, negotiation breakdowns or last-minute buyer cold feet. Our model compresses that timeline, because buyers are pre-qualified, verified and the process is time-bound.”
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