Residential property prices in Dubai keep falling , with valuations down 4% towards the end of 2018, the latest index report shows.
Prices for villas fell by 13% over the quarter and apartment prices were down by 14%, according to a report from Asteco Dubai real estate.
The report states that a slowdown in new project launches, meant that the focus in the third quarter was on completed real estate mostly available directly from developers, or ones being sold on the second hand market.
The current mortgage requirements are being questioned and real estate professionals have been urging the central bank to lower existing loan to value ratios.
‘Although no such changes have yet been announced there appears to be a consensus among many that these reforms would provide the stimuli needed to boost the real estate market,’ the report says.
Potential tenants continued to take advantage of the abundance of choice and decreasing rents to upgrade to larger units, better quality specifications and/or more popular locations and rental rates are expected to come under further pressure this year, a trend that is likely to spill over into early 2019.
The total anticipated delivery for 2018 is now estimated at almost 17,000 residential units and the report state that while still a significant amount, this figure represents a drop on previous projections.
Although the number of delayed projects are high, it is noteworthy that construction targets have in general been met with delays ultimately resulting from overly ambitious handover times and dates. As such, a sizeable number of units previously forecasted for completion in the second half of the year will not complete until into 2019.
Arada, the UAE’s newest developer, has announced that it sold a record 652 homes worth Dh545 million ($148 million) during the three-day Cityscape Global real estate exhibition held in Dubai recently, thus registering a 42 per cent increase on the company’s performance last year, when it launched its largest project, Aljada.
