If you build it, they will come: The up and coming and fastest growing areas in the UAE
In its latest edition of Propertyfinder Trends, the property portal reveals the up-and-coming and fastest growing areas in the UAE.
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, with its off-plan Oasis Residences now advertised, Dubai’s Jumeirah Village Circle, with its affordability and rise in handovers, and Sharjah’s Muwaileh community, with a 18.7% drop in rental prices, all saw massive gains in interest.
What makes a community popular? Affordability, location, and amenities all certainly play a role. But in the UAE, where neighbourhoods can literally rise out of the sand within months, the most sought-after areas can quickly change.
With its finger on the pulse, Propertyfinder Group compiled search behaviour on its portal for Q2 and Q3 of 2017 in its most recent edition of Propertyfinder Trends, revealing places that are on the up around the country.
At around 6% cheaper to buy or rent a villa in The Springs, interest is rebounding in the community, Dubai’s most popular place to rent a villa. Searches were up 32%.
Continuing on the affordability theme, Dubai’s Jumeirah Village Circle and Studio City both experienced increased interest. JVC, where rents were down 12% for a villa, experienced a glut of supply with a 55% increase in listings. Demand followed, however, with a 27% increase in residential searches.
There was good news for Dubai developer Danube, which is handing over affordable apartments at a clip. It completed a project in Studio City in 2017, and residential searches went up 101%, with a 63% increase in buyer leads.
On the commercial side, Umm Ramool, one of Dubai’s oldest industrial areas, experienced new interest. Searches for commercial space were up 120%, with a 50% spike in leads per listing (i.e., people expressing interest in a property).
It was announced late last year that the airport-adjacent area is getting a 2.1 million square foot free zone dedicated to e-commerce, including office space and fulfillment and logistics centres, to be called Dubai CommerCity, a joint venture between Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) and wasl Asset Management Group.
Heading further north, Sharjah’s Al Wahda and Muwaileh, despite downward pressure on prices, both saw an uptick in interest. Al Wahda quadrupled its search volume, while Muwaileh was up 72%.
In the capital, Abu Dhabi’s Downtown is becoming more popular (+71% search volume). Masdar City is officially on the map, with ambitions to house 40,000 people. The eco-city’s residential searches tripled in 2017, proving the green movement is gaining momentum.
