Asking prices for rent and sale are down across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the Northern Emirates, with the exception of Sharjah, where asking prices for apartments for sale have remained upbeat on the back of continuous development. Hardest hit were Abu Dhabi apartments for rent, which have declined nearly 21% in two years.
Some areas in Dubai are showing signs of life. Villas for rent are up 5.4% and 2.4% in Jumeirah Village Circle and Mudon, respectively, and Arabian Ranches stayed flat over the same period. Meanwhile, villas for sale on the Palm Jumeirah are up 5.2% in the last six months, the only area to record an uptick in this segment.
Apartments for sale in Dubai Investment Park were the only units to go up in asking price in this segment, eking up 2.7%. Barsha Heights, in apartments for sale, stayed flat, down just .2% in asking prices. Al Furjan is the only area in Dubai where asking prices for rent have gone up (+2.7%) in the last six months.
”For more than a year, the overriding sentiment has been that prices are at, or very close to, the bottom of the cycle and will increase in the lead-up to Expo 2020,” says Lukman Hajje, Chief Commercial Officer of Propertyfinder Group, in the opening pages of Propertyfinder Trends. “But supply continues to exceed demand and the pundits, myself included, have continually been proven wrong as prices have continued to fall. Will we be right this time?”
This is the overarching question of Propertyfinder Group’s biannual market report. Eleven market experts from leading brokerages and developers contributed their expertise — several used the platform to encourage buyers and highlight advancements in UAE policies and technology.
Below, charts indicate asking price trends showing median price per square foot at the end of the first half of 2018, comparing percentage change to 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months prior.
