Singapore Property and Real Estate News Portal

Dubai rental market on the rise

Concern about the credit crunch has created a movement in the Dubai property market away from sales towards rentals, according to industry experts.

More and more properties are being marketed for rent rather than being sold on. ‘Speaking to brokers, we have noticed a shift in the market. Now that more and more properties are being completed, property owners are looking to rent their properties to manage mortgage repayments,’ said property event director Pooja Rajani.

The trend has also been noticed by Riad Kamal, the chief executive of construction giant Arabtec Holding. He said that more developers would become more reliant on income from property rents as the housing sales market continued to slow.

‘There is a huge demand for rented accommodation and that’s what is escalating the rent prices. What we are going to see is a healthy correction as more accommodation becomes available, helping to reduce the rents which today are just very unreasonable,’ he added.

However not everyone is reporting property falls. ‘Contrary to popular belief not all property prices are falling in Dubai. We see a very clear end-user market emerging both in terms of rental, investors for buy to let and owner occupiers in projects that are completed or close to handover,’ said Vincent Easton, sales director at Sherwoods Property Consultants.

‘The fundamentals and dynamics of both living and working in Dubai are still strong meaning the medium to long term outlook for real estate investment remain sound,’ he added.