Dubai: Locations such as Al Khalidiya and Mohammad Bin Zayed City are bucking the trend of poor demand and rental pressure in Abu Dhabi. These residential neighbourhoods along with Muroor are rated the best performers, according to the new update from Chestertons. Khalifa City is another area favoured by cost conscious tenants.
These locations currently offer a fair supply of studios with rents between Dh29,000-Dh55,000. But in other locations, rents remain under pressure, with a decline of 2 per cent recorded in the third quarter for apartments and 1 per cent for villas.
Under severe stress are the homes in Al Raha Beach, Al Ghadeer, Al Reef, Reem Island and Saadiyat Island, where studios range from Dh39,000 to AED105,000 and three-bedroom units from Dh110,000 to Dh196,000.
According to Ivana Gazivoda Vucinic, Head of Advisory and Research at Chestertons Mena, “In the first half of 2017, we saw a number economic factors place downwards pressure on the Abu Dhabi housing market including low oil prices, increased stock in the secondary market, a rising cost-of-living and work redundancies.
“In Q3-17, these factors continued to steer market performance, while the announcement of new, high-end residential projects, raised caution among investors.”
In the villa rental market, Al Ghadeer posted the highest decline in average prices, dropping 8 per cent over the quarter. This compares to the trends recorded in Al Khalidiya, where prices increased by an average of 4 per cent, Al Reem Island and Khalifa City, which both posted a 3 per cent increase in prices, raising the average quarterly results.
