Apartment rents in Dubai dipped 5 per cent year-on-year in the first half of the year and are 21 per cent lower than they were two years ago, according to a report from Dubai real estate listings portal, Property Finder. It attributed the fall to an increasing supply of new homes.
The downward trend is also reflected in rents for villas and townhouses in Dubai, with rents dropping 8.6 per cent in the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year.
“While some of this decline could be attributed to new affordable villa stock hitting the market and dragging down the median, established communities also saw a dip in rents,” the report said.
Property Finder said 33,363 residential units were handed over last year.
“With 19,449 new residential properties completed in Dubai during the first half of 2019, it will be some time before supply levels are absorbed,” the report said.
Apartment communities with the biggest rent declines in the first half of 2019 were Town Square, down 10.1 per cent, and Motor City, down 6.4 per cent. Rents in both Culture Village and Dubai Investments Park fell 6.1 per cent, while rents in Arjan dropped 5.7 per cent.
The only areas where apartment rents registered marginal growth were City Walk and World Trade Centre. Damac Hills, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai South and The Views clocked minor rent declines in the first half of this year.
Villa and townhouse communities saw the steepest rental declines were The Meadows (18.1 per cent), Motor City (1.3 per cent) and Reem Mira (10 per cent).
Al Furjan registered 7.8 per cent reduction in rents and Damac Hills fell 7.5 per cent.
Emirates Hills, on the other hand, registered a healthy increase in rents of 14.8 per cent, while rents in International City and Jumeirah Park climbed 1.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.
"The trend of being able to find bargains for everything from lower prices, an increased number of cheques as well as other incentives such as free utilities, are proving popular among renters," said Lynnette Abad, director of data and research at Property Finder.
The most popular areas for those looking to rent property were Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah and Al Barsha.
The current average median annual rent is Dh79,650 for Dubai apartments and Dh166,667 for villas.
