2016’s Most Popular Residential Communities in Dubai Revealed

This year, close to 1.5 million people have turned to property classifieds website propertyfinder.ae to search for a rental property.

And the most searched community for apartment renters and buyers? Dubai Marina.

This high-end waterside community at the heart of new Dubai retains the top spot for another year, attracting nearly a fifth of all monthly searches (19%). Downtown Dubai is joint second most popular community searched, alongside Jumeirah Lake Towers.

The top trio of most searched communities underline that Dubai renters want to enjoy the high life in a high rise.

The majority of rental searches are for one-bedroom flats (39%), followed by two bedroomed properties (35%), while just 2% of people are looking to rent a four-bedroom property.

While ever-popular Palm Jumeirah retains fourth spot for a second year, Dubai Sports City has leapt four places, taking fifth place, with 5% of propertyfinder.ae’s monthly apartment searches.

There is a noticeable gap between the asked price per square foot and what people are actually willing to pay in each and every community, and the trend where the consumer is king is defined as people are demanding greater value.

The biggest gap between asking price and willingness to pay shows up in Palm Jumeirah rental properties, with people wishing to pay AED18 less per square foot than landlords are asking for.

BUYER’S DELIGHT

While the rise of suburban communities in Dubai is creating a more affordable, larger rental property market, when it comes to buying villas, people are still searching for the same communities as last year – Arabian Ranches, The Springs and Jumeirah.

These areas still retain the top three spots as last year.

People are more willing to pay closer to the asking price in these three areas, too, with the asking price per square foot for a luxurious Arabian Ranches villa averaging just AED6 more than people are willing to pay.

Asking and buying prices match up in The Springs, while people looking to buy in Umm Suqeim are most dissatisfied with the asking price. These savvy beachside villa buyers want to pay AED16.5 less than sellers’ are asking for!

And when it comes to buying, most site visitors search for a three or four bedroomed property, underlining that it’s more likely to be families buying, while the fun young singles are hunting for the perfect studio in Dubai Marina.

While 13% of buyers hit Arabian Ranches to look for a dream home, newcomer to the top ten, Jumeirah Islands, has garnered 3% of our growing audience, all of whom are happy with the AED59 per square foot asking price for these upmarket lakeside villas.

Apartment buyers are in tune with renters, searching most for Dubai Marina properties, (21% of searches), but looking to pay AED243 less than the asking price. The glittering lights of Downtown Dubai are also pulling in the apartment buyers, the number two community.

Up and coming suburban development Jumeirah Village Circle is proving popular this year with apartment buyers, with 8% of our searchers viewing JVC properties. People are even, on average happy to pay a dirham more than the AED880 per square foot asking price!

Newcomer The Views has crept onto the bottom rung of the top ten communities for apartment buyers, with some 3% of searches looking at this upmarket Emaar Properties development next to Emirates Golf Course.

Almost an equal number of people are looking to buy a one-bedroomed apartment (35.4%) or two-bedroomed apartment (34.9%).