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"Tenants are seeking lower rental rates as housing allowances have been reduced," said Robin Teh, UAE country manager and director of valuations and advisory UAE, Chestertons Mena.
Apartment rents, on average, declined by an average of one per cent in Q4 from the previous quarter, with Al Ghadeer the only area remaining resolute, while Al Reef Downtown dropped by an average of three per cent from Q3 and 11 per cent year on year.
Apartment rents in Al Bandar, Al Zeina and Al Reem Island all fell by around eight per cent, on average, throughout the year.
Across-the-board decline
Villa rents dropped by an average of two per cent in Q4, but the overall picture for 2016 was one of significant softening across all areas. Villas in Al Reef, Al Raha Gardens and Saadiyat Island witnessed average rental decreases of between 10 per cent and 12 per cent.
On the sales front, average apartment prices dropped by one per cent in Q4 2016 from the previous quarter, with the Al Ghadeer and Al Reef Downtown areas both displaying an above average decline of two per cent. While apartments in Al Ghadeer, Al Bandar and Al Muneera all witnessed y-o-y average declines of three per cent.
On average, villa sales prices fell by two per cent from Q3 to Q4 and six per cent overall. Al Reef Island saw the greatest y-o-y drop at six per cent. Al Raha Gardens, Saadiyat Island and Khalifa City all fell four per cent from 2015 prices due to a quiet sales market.
Average yields for Q4 2016 remained stable since Q2 2016 and stayed flat at above five per cent.
Teh said: "There is a similar situation in Dubai, with residential sales and rental prices falling and yet yields remaining fairly consistent throughout the course of 2016. We expect the pressure on rents to remain throughout the first quarter of 2017."
- business@khaleejtimes.com
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