Abu Dhabi: The summer holidays this year have seen many expats moving to bigger and better apartments as they cash in on lower rentals.
Ramesh Nair and his wife Sangeetha from India, who lived in a one bedroom apartment, said they had shifted to a two bedroom flat now, something unimaginable for the middle class couple till last year. “We were paying Dh70,000 for our one bedroom on Zayed the First Street (Electra). But our current two bedroom in the same area costs Dh80,000,” said Nair who works for a contracting company.
He said he now pays his rents in three cheques.
Filipino expat John Averilla said he is moving to a posh one bedroom in Mussafah because of the flexibility in rent payments.
“I have just paid the advance for my new one bedroom home. My landlord has agreed to four cheques. That is a big relief from my earlier single payment,” said Averilla, a logistics coordinator.
According to JLL property brokers, average rents of two bedroom flats fell by two per cent in the second quarter of 2016, compared to same period last year.
Declan McNaughton, managing director of Chestertons MENA, said, “From an apartment perspective, Al Muneera, Al Bandar, Al Zeina, Al Ghadeer, Al Reef Downtown and Al Reem Island all saw decreases of between 0.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter.”
“There is no longer an apartment scarcity in the capital. Naturally, landlords are willing to bring down the price,” said a real estate agent.
He said tenants looking to upgrade are making the most of the situation, with some families who have moved to two- and three-bedroom apartments in areas like Musaffah saving up to Dh15,000 a year.
“Though the demand is still high in the area because of the presence of schools, rents in most buildings have dropped,” said an agent of Sahara real estate.
Real estate brokers in Reem Island said the going rate for a one bedroom apartment is between Dh80,000 and Dh85,000, and for two bedrooms between Dh105,000 and Dh110,000.
“The same one bedroom units cost anything between Dh90,000 and Dh100,000 and two bedrooms Dh120,000 and above till May this year,” said one of them.
“Landlords are now willing to negotiate by a margin of Dh10,000 in many cases and offer flexible payment options,” said an agent from JustProperty.com.
