Christie's International Real Estate opens sales of villas at Maldives resort projects

Christie's International Real Estate has made residential-model properties at resorts being developed in the Maldives available for purchase. Christie's International Real Estate Maldives is a company of Laith Ferron, founder and CEO of Orka Holdings, whose portfolio includes luxury hotels and resorts across Asia, Europe and America. The company primarily sells properties at the most luxurious end of the market. Under the project, Namois Resort Maldives and Fusion Resort Maldives will be developed, and buyers will also have the opportunity to purchase properties at Rash Gili and Dhon Maga. The offerings include two-bedroom water residences at Rash Gili priced from US$2 million, as well as 56 ultra-luxury villas to be developed at Dhon Maga on a long-lease basis. Brokerage operations for the project will be managed by Sales Managing Director Marco Bonini, whose company has experience selling high-end branded residences in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, America and the Maldives. The company said the initiative is a good opportunity for those who wish to stay in the Maldives for extended periods and buy their own villa within a resort environment. Bonini said that while the Maldives was once visited only as a tourist destination, that picture is now changing. "Among our clients there are those who come several times a year and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on accommodation. Such people can buy a villa, use it themselves, and keep it in a professionally managed rental programme for profit. So owning a villa can be profitable," he said.