DUBAI: The surge in Dubai’s residential property market may have slowed down considerably in the last five months, but there is still enough momentum built in to ensure it was the fastest growing for a fifth consecutive quarter. In the 12 months to June this year, its residential space was up 24 per cent, comfortably above second and third placed Turkey and Oreland, which were up 14 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively, according to the global consultancy Knight Frank.
The UK was in fifth spot, principally led by demand for the enduring hot spots in and around London. But the pace in the US was quite some distance removed from the leaders- at 6.9 per cent in the 12 months to June, it was placed 19th.
For those investors intent on Dubai, there is a silver lining — the current 24 per cent year-on-year gain is lower than the 27.7 per cent growth gain in the 12 months to March. “The Emirate’s mainstream market is outperforming the luxury end of the market due in part to the mortgage rules introduced by the UAE Central Bank which are less restrictive for those buying residential property worth below Dh5 million,” the Knight Frank report said.
So, what would be a good rate of growth for the near term? “Anything in the 10-20 per cent range can be constituted as sustainable,” said Ziad Al Chaar, Managing Director at Damac Properties. “Along with more mortgage availability for off-plan projects, this pace of growth will be enough to convince more residents to shift from renting to actually owning their homes. It is turning into a buyers’ market.
