Dubai – Mubasher: Dubai’s rents and sales across all asset classes witnessed a massive drop during the full-year 2018, against expectations, property services company Asteco said in a report.
Over the course of the previous year, real estate companies delivered 15,000 residential units, of which 12,000 were apartments and 2,750 were villas, according to the fourth-quarter real estate report.
Sales prices across all asset classes decreased by 13% in 2018, Asteco said.
“Despite lower than anticipated handover volumes, the additional supply was still significant and resulted in steady rental rate declines across all asset classes throughout the year,” the report highlighted.
Asteco, specialised in property and association management, buy, lease, valuation, franchise, RICS surveyor, noted that average declines of 10% for apartments, 10% for villas and 5% for offices were recorded for 2018.
“The steady decline in sales prices for completed projects has improved affordability and hence opened the market to a wider investor pool and facilitated a rise in end-users and first-time buyers,” according to the report.
Moreover, Asteco expected a significant amount of new supply across all Northern emirates but particularly within Sharjah, which will result in further declines in rental rates in 2019.
“Construction activity during 2019 (for committed projects) is expected to continue unabated, despite a slowdown in new project launches. This is largely due to construction-linked and post-completion payment plans, which ensure payments are only received when milestones are met,” Asetco added.
This supply will contribute to the total delivery of over 30,000 residential units.
Dubai’s real estate market will continue to mature throughout this year in line with increased transparency and improved regulatory conditions.
