UAE startup pools homebuyers to unlock bulk discounts

• Baitak helps buyers to collaborate
• Collective purchase can discount 15%
• Almost 10,000 units listed on platform

A startup operating in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is pitching itself as a new way for individual homebuyers to access the same discounts typically reserved for institutional investors buying in bulk.

As property prices climb, platforms that extend bulk-buying discounts to individual purchasers are emerging as a possible affordability release valve in an increasingly expensive market.

Baitak, launched in November last year, pools prospective buyers to negotiate collective purchases from developers and secure discounts of between 5 and 15 percent, according to the company.

It generates revenue through commissions paid by developers on completed sales.

“As hopeful homeowners ourselves, we’ve seen how much the market has gone up in the past five years,” Ahmed Kamleh, Baitak’s chief executive and co-founder, told AGBI. “The mission is to make it so people can afford their homes.”

The company currently has close to 10,000 units listed across its platform. Kamleh said as few as four buyers are enough to qualify as a bulk transaction from a developer’s perspective.

Buyers have to wait until the minimum number in the group has been met before they can choose a unit they would like to purchase. Baitak works with the developer to handle the discounts on behalf of the buyer. 

For now, it only applies to off-plan units from developers Ellington, Object 1, Samana, Binghatti and Beyond, but Baitak plans to add more real estate companies and add completed units in the future.

Home values in Abu Dhabi rose 114 percent between 2019 and 2025, according to government data, while prices per square foot in Dubai increased by about 80 percent over the same period.

Rental pressures have also intensified, with AGBI reporting earlier this month on a rise in rental defaults in Dubai.

Those trends show little sign of easing, particularly in the capital. Abu Dhabi is expected to deliver about 6,500 new homes this year, despite a much larger construction pipeline, with residential occupancy forecast at about 90 percent, according to ValuStrat’s Abu Dhabi Market Outlook 2026. 

Real estate values in the capital are projected to rise a further 16 percent this year, underlining continued supply tightness and limited room for price relief.

Initiatives fall short

Authorities have introduced measures aimed at easing access to ownership, including Dubai’s first-time home buyer scheme, which allows residents to purchase homes worth up to AED5 million with marginally higher loan-to-value ratios and deferred registration fees.

But Baitak argues those initiatives fall short.

“It was similar to the discounts developers already offer anyway,” Kamleh said. “We saw that as more of a marketing scheme.”

Developers in the UAE are already known for advertising headline incentives, from fee waivers to payment-plan sweeteners. Baitak’s proposition, according to its founders, is that its discounts sit on top of those offers rather than replacing them.

“A lot of developers advertise discounts all the time,” said Labib Shammas, Baitak co-founder. “For our system, the discount is on top of what developers already give out.”

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Kamleh said Abu Dhabi, in particular, remains difficult for first-time buyers to enter.

“Dubai is bad, but Abu Dhabi is horrible,” he said. “There are fewer residential projects happening in the entire city than just Jumeirah Village Circle in Dubai, Kamleh said, referring to the mid-market, family-orientated residential district. “We’ve seen first-time buyers struggling in both markets.”

Baitak is now working with an unnamed government ministry to formalise its operations in Abu Dhabi, according to the founders, though details remain limited.

“We’re working with one of the ministries to help create incentives in the property sector,” Shammas said. “You have big developers like Aldar and Modon, but it’s hard to break in with those and get discounts. They’ll come around.”