Dubai to get 150,000 more residential units

Dubai: Dubai's property market is expected to witness the supply of nearly 150,000 new residential units, according to a report by Colliers International.

These include about 134,838 units being built in various 'foreign ownership zones', 3,415 units in Al Barsha, and 4,609 units at the Tecom areas.

About 30 per cent of apartments in Dubai Marina are empty, while owners live in 33 per cent and the rest 37 per cent are rent out by buyers.

The report also highlighted the overwhelming focus on the development of high-end product with little (although growing) attention paid to the low and middle-income segments.

"The implications of an oversupply in the high-end residential segment may assume a top-down nature, and give rise to a market-wide relaxation of lease terms that are currently heavily weighted in favour of landlords," it said.

"We expect annual in advance rent payments to be widely replaced by quarterly [or possibly monthly] in advance payments within the coming 18 months, as landlords become increasingly competitive. However this will only follow a tightening of regulations governing the practices of real estate brokerage firms in order to ensure landlord income security."