Dubai: Planning to buy a property in Dubai? Then, some of the biggest incentives offered by developers and individual sellers are there for the taking as they try to offset buyer concerns about rising property values, mortgage rates and whether the global economy is headed into a recession.
The sweetened up offers are already being reflected in fairly decent-sized discounts from more developers with offplan projects in the fast-emerging freehold zones in the city. At some new launches, the size of the limited-time ‘discounts’ are over 20 per cent of the listed prices.
“There are two sales patterns we can see: for luxury property in Dubai, there are hardly any major incentives on offer from developers,” said an estate agent. “There’s still sufficient demand from global investors wanting high-end homes here, and ready to close the deal on cash.
“The second pattern is in the mid-market/affordable property space, where developers are bringing back discounts, 1 per cent a month payment schemes, and extended payment plans of up to 8-10 years.”
And where should property owners look for discounts? That depends on the developer, but check out closely new offplan releases away from the main development zones and chances are you will get quite favourable selling rates.
Mortgage-related concerns
The ramping up of buying options direct from developers has lots to do with mortgages turning costly all through 2022, capped by the 0.50 per cent interest rate hike on December 14. Another likely rate increase is coming in February, and these successive increases are what end-user property buyers are most worried about.
Foreign investor activity in Dubai’s continues to be strong, and property sources say this will run through the year. But developers realise they need to do more on convincing end-users.
If not discounts, it will be payment plans. There are sales promotions going for mid-market homes where the monthly payment plan comes to Dh3,000 or lower. Sometimes, over a 10-year payment term. “Payment commitments at these levels are finding favour with end-user buyers,” said a broker. “They don’t have to worry about mortgage rate hikes or any of that
“If a developer has got a ready property and backing it with similar payment plans, then he is even better placed. And so are buyers.”
Service charges too
Worried about service charges? At some projects, developers have got that covered too. In Meydan, an upmarket townhouse project is being promoted with the promise of 0 per cent service charge for owners.
Where should buyers look?
Any area where substantial delivery of completed homes are to happen this year should be seeing more aggressive promotions. Keep checking for rent-to-own offers, and see if developers are willing to waive having to pay for Dubai Land Department fees. Or at least pay for half of it. While at it, get a clear reading on what the services charges are and what sort of increases there would be from the time of handover.
