In Pics and Graphs: As Dubai’s end-users drive sales, property values are gaining fast

Will 2022 have more of the same to offer Dubai’s property market? Unceasing – and unmet - demand for luxury homes filtering further down into the real estate landscape and lifting values across more communities and neighbourhoods? Where an end-user turns his or her attention from buying a villa to a spacious two-bed at the Downtown or Dubai Marina?

Those who are hesitating about taking such decisions do not have that windows of opportunity remaining open for long. Prices are starting to list at more locations in Dubai, going by the latest update from the consultancy Core. What you got as an offer even three months ago may not be on the table any more. At least at the same price.

There are many potential end-users who have experienced a higher asking price just because they waited longer to take a decision. So far, it has only happened with villas and high-end apartments in the most happening neighbourhoods.

As far as developers are concerned, there is still room for ‘price recovery’. Here is a piece of stat – while villa prices in Dubai were up a steep 22 per cent in 2021, they are still 16 per cent lower than their 2014 peak, according to Prathyusha Gurrapu, Head of Research at Core.

For apartments across locations – whether prime or mid-market – the road to 2014 values are all the more longer. So, where should end-users be looking at in 2022?

Dubai Hills, Dubailand, MBR City and Dubai Creek Harbour are all options that merit serious attention, while Emaar Beachfront is still some way off. Projects closer to completion are seeing developers and brokers come up with some aggressive pricing options.

Rent-to-own is also in the sales mix, though limited to a handful of developers. For the most part, it’s a small upfront payment, up to 30-50 per cent on handover, and the rest in three years. Sure, some developers will do a lot more to sell, and buyers will do well to factor in all options.

They should also be looking as to where new homes are being delivered. Dubai could see another 30,000 new homes ready to occupy this year, and matching the 2021 tally. That could mean locations such as MBR City, Dubai South and Dubailand – where a majority of the new handovers are to happen – should see relative price calm.

Apart from higher property values, potential end-users must keep close track of upcoming mortgage rate hikes, and how they should go about structuring their payment plans. Bottom-line is this is going to be a starkly different marketplace than what it has been these past two years.

Developers with offplan launches must double down in finding end-users for their new projects. Speculative buying is more pronounced at the top end of the market, which means that in the mid-tier space, developers’ focus must remain single-minded in pursuing the end-user.

Make those living spaces and come up with a price and package that will convince a tenant to put up money on his or her first home in Dubai. 2022 will be about how well developers manage that convincing. (Pictured here is the first residential project from ZaZen Properties, in Jumeirah Village.)