Stay up to date with the latest market news
Dubai, 10 July, 2017: Cavendish Maxwell today released its Q2 2017 residential reports providing analysis and summary of apartment and villa/townhouse properties in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The reports highlight price movements, rents and yield scenarios, residential supply as well as the macro-economic factors impacting this segment.
Price performance
Prices for apartment and villa/townhouses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have continued to decline during the first half of the year. In Dubai, Victory Heights, Business Bay and International City clusters all experienced year on year declines of more than 1.5%on an average in Q2 2017. In Abu Dhabi, villas/townhouses in Al Reef and Al Raha Gardens have experienced annual declines of 2% on an average during the same period.
Rent performance
Rent declines were more pronounced among villas in Al Furjan and two bedroom apartments in Dubai Sports City and International City (clusters). These categories of units exhibited quarter on quarter declines of more than 2%. “Landlords continue to be flexible in lease terms and rental amounts to attract tenants who are currently benefiting from increased supply and rent declines across the market”, said Manika Dhama, Senior Consultant, Strategic Consulting and Research at Cavendish Maxwell. “Payment through multiple cheques, first month rent-free are some of the options landlords are providing to reduce vacancy risk on their properties.”
In Abu Dhabi, rent declines were more pronounced among villas in Al Reef and apartments in Al Reem island, where rents declined more than 2% or more quarter on quarter. “The tenant profile in Abu Dhabi is currently more focused on affordable options and this is expected to continue as redundancies from oil price impact on businesses as well as recent mergers in the emirate which have affected high salaried senior executives more acutely,” said Dhama.
Transaction overview
In Dubai, off-plan sales accounted for the majority of total transactions in the first half of 2017. International City and Dubai Marina continued to lead the secondary market transactions this quarter, while the top locations for off-plan apartment sales were Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubailand, Dubai South and Business Bay. For villas/townhouses, majority of the secondary sales were completed in Reem (Mira), Emirates Living and Jumeirah Village Circle.
Residential supply
Approximately 3,100 residential units have been handed over across Dubai during Q2 2017 and 400 units have been handed over in Abu Dhabi investment zones during the same period. The majority of the units handed over during Q2 in Dubai were located in areas such as Silicon Oasis, Dubailand, Al Nahda, among others. In Abu Dhabi all the units handed over this quarter were apartments on Al Reem island. In Dubai, approximately 27,389 units are scheduled for delivery during the remainder of 2017, while in Abu Dhabi investment zones the scheduled delivery is 2,100 units. Actual completions may vary significantly.
Cavendish Maxwell Residential Survey
The Dubai report also draws on the Cavendish Maxwell Residential Survey conducted among agents in the emirate. For Q3 2017 the majority of agents surveyed predicted apartment and villa/townhouse prices as well as rents will remain unchanged. In terms of transactions, 56% of agents expect new buyer enquiries to increase, while 54% expect an increase in the number of agreed sales. The majority of those surveyed (54%) believe new seller instructions will also increase during the Q3 of 2017.
Stay up to date
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue without changing your settings, we’ll assume you’re happy with this. You can change your cookie settings at any time by clicking here.
ACCEPTxNecessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Sarah-Jane Carter
BA (Hons) DipM
Head of Marketing
Sarah-Jane joined Cavendish Maxwell in January 2020 as Head of Marketing and is responsible for the development of the marketing strategy and execution across the Middle East region. An energetic and results driven marketer, Sarah-Jane possesses a wealth of multi-channel marketing experience, within both B2B and B2C environments which she has gained over a 25 year career. Prior to joining Cavendish Maxwell, Sarah-Jane held senior marketing positions for major developers in Dubai including Emaar, Dubai Properties and Dubai Sports City. She also worked for IWG as the Regional Marketing Director responsible for the MEA and APAC regions. Before relocating to the UAE in 2005, Sarah-Jane held various management roles in public and private sector companies in the UK including ten years at Royal Mail and seven years at the Bank of America.
Sarah-Jane is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has a BA(Hons) Degree in Business and Marketing
View Profile on