Land availability and real estate values are inseparably intertwined. Island cities like Male, Hong Kong, and Singapore, where land is scarce, have rarely witnessed a decline in real estate market prices even during the most difficult of times. The Maldives stands at 209 out of 257 countries in the index of cross-country land area comparisons delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, according to the CIA. The total coastline extends 644 kilometres with the highest point of just 5 metres located at the 8th tee of the golf course on Villingi Island.
Adding stunning seascapes that attract high-end tourists from around the world to land scarcity, along with urbanisation, and we have a property market that is guaranteed to stay on the incline. As the smallest of the South Asian countries, the archipelago of 1,190 islands grouped into 26 atolls, of which 200 are inhabited and 80 are resorts, hosts over one-third of its population in the capital city of Male, which had long reached its tipping point in terms of population. Hence, this realisation spurred the development of Hulhumale from its eureka moment in the late 90s to its current status, where the reclaimed island project connecting the capital and airport island is entering its third phase.