Dubai's residential property market remained stable fetching strong returns on investment (ROI) even as  rents and sales prices softened in 2017, according to a report.

The prevailing trend in Dubai property is the attractive ROI of 7 and 5 per cent on apartments and villas  year-on-year. This comes as average yearly rent in Dubai is on the decline, stated Bayut.com, a UAE-based property portal in its Dubai Year-on-Year real estate market report.

The report said the iconic Dubai Marina was once again the most sought-after area for renting flats followed by Dubai International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Mirdif and Bur Dubai.

 International City is the most affordable popular area for both renting and buying flats; Mirdif and The Villa offer lowest-priced villas and townhouses, it added.

Prices of apartment rentals in Dubai are on a decline across the emirate, most notably in Dubai
International City where a 16 per cent drop is observed compared to last year and the average annual
rent for studios, one-bed and two-bed is Dh31,000, Dh42,000 and Dh65,000 respectively.

Dubai Marina is the most sought-after area for both renting and buying apartments in 2017; Mirdif and Arabian Ranches lead the pack in villa renting and villa buying categories, respectively, stated the report.

Mirdif is also the most affordable villa community with yearly leases of Dh130,000, Dh145,000 and
Dh150,000 for three-, four- and five-bedroom units, respectively (a 9-13 per cent drop from 2016). The most expensive of the popular villa localities in 2017 is Palm Jumeirah commanding Dh315,000,
Dh420,000 and Dh450,000 for the three-, four- and five-bedroom units, respectively - a 6-13 per cent decline from 2016.

According to Bayut, Dubai Marina emerged as the most desirable Dubai community for buying flats this year, followed by Downtown Dubai, JVC, JLT and Palm Jumeirah.

Among the most favoured areas for buying flats in 2017, Dubai International City was the most cost-effective with studios, one- and two-bed apartments priced at Dh350,000, Dh475,000 and Dh850,000 respectively - roughly a 5 per cent decline over the previous year.

Palm Jumeirah remained the most extravagant popular area with studios, one- and two-bedroom units demanding Dh1.25 million (down 1.9 per cent from 2016), Dh2.4 million (5.2 per cent jump over 2016) and Dh2.7 million (1.8 per cent growth) correspondingly.

Bayut said the apartment types that bucked the trend in 2017 were studios in Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai Sports City (one per cent increase), one-beds in Palm Jumeirah (5 per cent upturn) and two-beds in JLT (0.5 per cent increase).

Most of the interest for buying villas and townhouses in 2017 is observed in the premium gated
community Arabian Ranches, with Reem Community, Dubailand, Palm Jumeirah and The Springs as runners-up, it stated.

According to experts, Dubai Marina was at the fore of end-user interest in Dubai off-plan property.

In Dubai Marina, Marina Gate 1 project took nearly 70 per cent of Bayut.com’s users’ interest.

The off-plan listings in Dubai Marina are the most sought after, followed by projects in Downtown
Dubai, JVC, JLT and Dubai Silicon Oasis.

In Downtown Dubai, Emaar’s Vida Residence received the most hits from end-users (15 per cent). In
JVC, the first place in views is shared by Bloom Towers and Green Valley Tower (28 per cent), while
listings in Wind Tower I and Wind Tower II received the highest number of hits in JLT (over
15 per cent each).

Binghatti Stars took 55 per cent of all inquiries for off-plan listings in Dubai Silicon Oasis.

"We have seen an overwhelming response to our apartments, a positive sign that the market is still
robust with plenty of demand for high quality yet affordable properties," remarked Muhammad BinGhatti, the chief executive and head of Architecture at Binghatti Developers.

Commenting on the report, Bayut.com's chief executive Haider Ali Khan, said: "As more and more off-plan projects are completed in 2018, handed over and put on the secondary market, we can expect prices continuing to attract investors while landlords will have to stay competitive to entice potential tenants."

"In the long run, as the market and the broader economy move on a trajectory of diversification and maturity, the opportunity for developers and sellers to capitalise on their investment remains strong," he added.-TradeArabia News Service