Plot of sand on Dubai’s luxury Jumeirah Bay Island sells for record US$34 million

This isn’t a spectacular mansion. It’s not a luxury penthouse or a designer apartment.

It’s a bunch of sand on a human-made island in Dubai, and it just sold on April 19 for 125 million dirhams (US$34 million), setting a record in a market that continues to benefit from an influx of foreign wealth.

The 24,500 sq ft empty parcel is on the sought-after Jumeirah Bay Island, a seahorse-shaped piece of land accessible by bridge from the Dubai mainland. That works out to more than 5,000 dirhams per square foot, which the brokerage on the deal, Knight Frank, identified as a new high. The buyer, who doesn’t live in the United Arab Emirates, is planning to build a family holiday home on the property. His identity wasn’t disclosed.

“It’s 125 million for sand,” says Andrew Cummings, head of prime residential at Knight Frank in Dubai. “Everything that’s been making the press has predominantly been spectacular villas, it’s been incredible penthouses and all this stuff. But this is just a massive record breaker for a land plot.”

The property was bought two years ago for 36.5 million dirhams, according to the Dubai Land Department, netting the seller a tidy 88.5 million dirham profit.