Median advertised apartment rents in Dubai were five per cent cheaper in the first half (H1) of 2019 compared to the same time last year, said Property Finder, a leading real estate services portal in the region.

The current average median annual rent for Dubai apartments is Dh79,650 ($21,680), added the report titled ‘Property Finder Trends’. Compared to H1 2017, Dubai apartment rents are 21 per cent more affordable, in further evidence of how the city is moving towards more affordability.

The sustained decline in city-wide rents also applies to villas and townhouses in Dubai. Rents for Dubai villas/townhouses dipped 3.8 per cent compared to H2 2018; they are 8.6 per cent cheaper compared to the same time last year, according to ‘Trends’ magazine. The current average median annual rent for Dubai villas is Dh166,667.

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. With 19,449 new residential properties completed in Dubai during H1 2019, it will be some time before supply levels are absorbed.

“For the rental market, declines overall have seen a modest drop when comparing with prices from the last six months. 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 amongst renters,” said Lynnette Abad, director of Data and Research, Property Finder.

Continued rent declines can be attributed in large to the amount of supply entering the Dubai market. 2018 saw the overall completion of 33,363 residential units, according to Data Finder statistics.
 
Most popular areas

For those looking to rent in the first half of 2019, Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, the Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah and Al Barsha made the top five, in the same fashion as last year. In line with previous years, due to Dubai Marina’s continued popularity, it pulled in around one and a half times the amount of demand as the next top searched community.

As more supply gets handed over in newer communities such as Town Square and Dubai Hills Estate, there is expected to be more rental demand in those areas as residents will spread out from the city centre looking for bargains and more bang for their buck.

Apartment communities that saw the biggest rent declines in H1 2019 were Town Square (-10.1 per cent), Motor City (-6.4 per cent), Culture Village (-6.2 per cent), Dubai Investment Park (-6.1 per cent) and Arjan (-5.7 per cent). The only areas where 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/townhouse communities where rent reduced the most in H1 2019 were The Meadows (-18.1 per cent), Green Community Motor City (-11.3 per cent), Reem Mira (-10 per cent), Al Furjan (-7.8 per cent) and Damac Hills (-7.5 per cent). Other villa communities such as Emirates Hills registered a healthy increase in rents (14.8 per cent), International City (1.8 per cent) and Jumeirah Park (1.2 per cent). – TradeArabia News Service