It is a buyer’s market in Dubai at present based on the findings of several studies and reports. Dubai is steadily transforming into a buyer’s market on account of its falling property prices and rentals alike. Residential property prices have come down by 4% in the third quarter of 2018 as per reports. Villa prices have come down by around 13% in the last quarter and prices of apartments have also come down by approximately 14% according to studies.
Rentals have reduced by roughly 3% with rentals going down by 3% for villas as well. The annual fall in rentals in these categories is 11% and 9% respectively. There are fewer project launches observed in the last quarter with developers emphasizing on selling off completed homes and clearing out inventory. The rent to own scheme and crowdfunding are new market trends that are also being seen in the Dubai real estate market as a result of demand from first-time buyers or end users.
The UAE Central Bank has also been urged to lower current loan to value ratios in order to ensure easier ownership of homes for those who cannot afford the present deposit requirements for mortgages. With the 2018 Dubai Cityscape looming large, there could be several new launch projects in Dubai and builders will look to attract more investors with higher incentives and better terms for payment. Rental markets have seen the highest declines in values in case of locations that have high volumes of handovers.
Around 16, 750 residential units are expected to be delivered by 2018 as per reports. This is still a good figure and shows that demand is still present in the market. Additionally, lower prices make it more viable for buyers to own property, something that will shore up demand eventually.
