Dubai: The Dubai property market is seeing the release of the first apartment buildings at ‘Expo Village’ (at the site of Expo 2020), and potential tenants would be hoping to sign up quickly on rental terms that would be on the affordable side.
The Expo Village will have 2,273 apartments within four designated residential clusters, all of which are designated for leases. The communities are ‘minutes away from the Expo 2020 Metro Station and the Dubai Exhibition Centre’, and with Savills appointed as the main leasing agent.
“By the looks of it, these apartments will be released in phases and generate ready demand from those working at ‘Expo City’ or within Dubai South,” said an industry source. “Even then, these units would appeal to those who work at offices in the wider Jebel Ali area – what’s most important is that these many units are arriving in Dubai’s rental market at a time when most other locations are going through 20-30 per cent rent increases
“The Metro directly serving the Expo Village will be a major USP for tenants.”
The location lends itself well to the short-term rental, given the number of companies that are setting up at Expo City and who will have people coming for specific projects of limited tenures.
The apartments range from 65- to 138 square metres.
The Expo Village was developed by Dubai World Trade Centre as the official residential community of Expo 2020 Dubai.
Currently, at Dubai South, brand new one-bedroom apartments of around 800 square feet are listing for Dh28,000 or thereabouts (and with one-month rent-free). The Expo Village rentals are yet to be formally published, but chances are there would be at a premium on comparable Dubai South rates.
"In my opinion, the Expo Village will be at a premium compared to Dubai South due to various reasons," said Niraj Masand, Managing Director of Artha Realty. "Access to the Metro and these units being rented and managed by the developer are most significant. Also, there are plans to offer them furnished."
Still stable on rents
So far, rent gains at Dubai South have not seen the sort of mark ups recorded by mid-market locations elsewhere in the city. The likes of Deira, Discovery Gardens and Jumeirah Village have seen rents up 13-, 8- and 20 per cent in the 12 months to end September, according to the property services firm Asteco.
It means that a one-bedroom in Deira is averaging Dh30,000-Dh55,000 as popular neighbourhoods see buildings going through makeovers or new ones coming up for lease. The areas in and around the Deira Corniche is particularly active, with the Gold Souk Ext. and the wider Deira Enrichment Project providing new rental options.
Jumeirah Village – one of the major options for mid-income tenants for the better part of the last five years – has seen rent increases of 20 per cent on average over the 12 months to September, says the Asteco report, which means that a one-bedroom is commanding Dh33,000-Dh60,000.
“Asteco anticipates rental rates to remain elevated towards the end of the year and into 2023,” the report adds, saying any slowdown in rent increases will happen only with oversupply. But the way Dubai has been seeing newcomers being added to the existing resident base, it could be some time before supply shoots past demand.
New apartment handovers are averaging about 6,000 units in each of the last three quarters, and those at Expo Village represent the latest additions to the rental market. And they make for some welcome additions too...
