Gulf Sotheby's and LUXHABITAT Join Forces to Become the Largest Luxury Real Estate Platform in the Region

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LUXHABITAT ? a pioneer in Dubai's high-end residential property market from 2009 and one of the strongest homegrown real estate brands ? and Gulf Sotheby's International Realty, the international luxury real estate firm, have announced a long-term strategic alliance, which will see the creation of a unified real estate platform moving forward.

As one of the biggest of its kind in the sector, the partnership will see Gulf Sotheby's powerful sales engine with record-breaking deals and global reach combine forces with LUXHABITAT's strong marketing and technology platform to create the most influential luxury real estate firm in the region supported by the world's largest global realty brand, Sotheby's International Realty. 

The partnership will result in a merge of the sales and operations teams from both companies and a 10-year partnership agreement in design, branding, marketing, and technology. The new platform will also be co-branded to combine the market strengths of both companies and increase brand awareness, market share, and customer loyalty.

The Dubai-based brokerage arm of the business will be spearheaded by George Azar as the Chairman and Chris Whitehead as Managing Partner leading the sales and operations teams. Oriol Font will remain the CEO at LUXHABITAT, which will serve as the technology and marketing partner for the new co-branded platform, while simultaneously leading the global expansion of the proptech business. LUXHABITAT will now be focused on supporting established real estate players in the technology and marketing space, that will prove to be a gamechanger for the traditional real estate brokerage model.

The partnership will consolidate the market share of the two firms to create a combined force of 75+ sales brokers, a specialized range of local and global technology and marketing tools, and represent the largest digital share of voice in Dubai's real estate market, which has been led by LUXHABITAT for several years.

George Azar, Chairman of Gulf Sotheby's International Realty:

"We couldn't be more excited to announce this partnership as the best deal we have done in the history of this firm. Both brands represent and compete for a comprehensive share in the luxury realty sector. And yet, we are extremely similar in our brand identity, market positioning and sales apparatus. It's a perfect alignment, that makes us the only luxury realty brokerage in the market today."

Oriol Font, CEO of LUXHABITAT:

"Real estate players are facing an environment that requires them to focus on value-creation and a very multi-disciplinary skill set to remain competitive. The depth of talent and complementary expertise from both companies will enable us to better serve both our sales professionals and our increasingly demanding global clientele," Mr. Font said. "We are proud of what we have achieved at LUXHABITAT, and we look forward to continuing our growth trajectory with a new business model focused on enabling traditional players with our marketing and technology expertise in real estate. All our team members are excited to shape the next phase of our journey and build a leading high-end real estate platform together."

The new firm will operate from the brand new showroom at the EMAAR Business Park, and will represent the largest collection of exclusive high-end properties and some of the most prestigious development projects in the UAE to its local and global HNI clientele.

About Gulf Sotheby's International Realty

Gulf Sotheby's International Realty prides itself in upholding a name renowned for reverential heritage and years of expertise and successful sales of precious possessions and prestigious properties from around the world. Through its affiliation with Sotheby's, the esteemed auction house uniting renowned collectors with world-class works of art since 1744, and Sotheby's International Realty, the most prestigious real estate brand (according to a survey conducted by The Luxury Institute), Gulf Sotheby's International Realty collaborates with discerning clients and represents the most sought-after luxury properties and developments in the GCC. Gulf Sotheby's International Realty's access to the global Sotheby's International Realty affiliate network empowers the firm to represent properties to its reputed connections and partners worldwide. The Sotheby's International Realty network currently has approximately 23,000 sales associates located in over 1,000 offices in 70 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.gulfsothebysrealty.com.

About LUXHABITAT

LUXHABITAT is Dubai's high-end real estate pioneer focused on marketing and selling the most important real estate homes in the region. From 2009 it has developed a quality-driven real estate platform headquartered in Dubai which combines best-in-class senior sales advisors with talented professionals across marketing, design, technology, editorial and operations to empower all individuals to make smarter real estate decisions. As a marketing and tech-enabled brokerage company, it currently manages the most visited online real estate brokerage platform in the region (according to third party traffic analysis sources such as similarweb.com). The company is focused on properties above AED5M in premium residential areas such as Emirates Hills, Palm Jumeirah, Al Barari, Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Golf Estates; and also, the best apartments and penthouses in upscale buildings such as Le Reve, Index Tower, Six Towers, Burj Khalifa, Bulgari Residences, and The Address Hotels, among others. For more information, visit its award-winning website at www.luxhabitat.ae.