Dubai real estate market bottoms out
Dubai real estate market bottoms out
Analysts say residential values in the UAE city can’t get any worse
Dubai’s housing market has passed the worst, Dubizzle has declared.
Having been on a downward spiral since 2014, residential property prices in the city-state remained flat in the first two quarters of the year, the classified ads site reported.
Dubizzle’s pronouncement echoes earlier sentiments by several property consultants, including ValuStrat and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) MENA.
According to Dubizzle’s second quarterly report, prices fell anywhere from 1 to 3 percent in Dubai Marina (AED1,625 per square foot), Palm Jumeirah (AED1,943 per sq ft), and Jumeirah Lakes (AED1,219 per sq ft).
In Business Bay, prices actually jumped by 3 percent to AED1,519 per sq ft.
“The residential property sale price cycle is almost at a close as we have not witnessed any major shifts in pricing from Q1 to Q2 2016,” Ann Boothello, Dubizzle’s senior product marketing manager for property, told The National. “Rental prices are now in the phase of bottoming out – tenants still have the upper hand with more negotiating power.”
More: Dubai experts are in disagreement over residential rent prices
Rental prices generally fell 2 percent across the board, Dubizzle reported, with landlords staving off vacancies by offering competitive prices or even accepting three or four cheques.
Last month, ValuStrat announced that the Dubai market has nowhere to go but up in the second half of 2016, as evinced by “broadly stable” property values on its residential price index. Tracking values across key areas in the emirate, the index posted a 0.1 percent decline to 97.9 points in June compared to April and May.
“Statistical analysis has shown further indications of an early recovery in some areas, signalling possible signs of a bottoming out in property values across (the areas monitored) during the course of the year,” ValuStrat said in a statement.
Craig Plumb, head of research for JLL Mena, believes that the Dubai residential market is on the road to recovery as early as this year or in 2017.
“We believe the Dubai residential market offers good long-term growth opportunities and purchasing around the bottom of the cycle is always a good time to buy for those taking a long-term view,” he said.
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Source: Property Report