Which localities in Dubai offer property bargains?

Bargain hunters looking to scoop up a good deal when it comes to renting a villa will find plenty of options in Jumeirah Village Circle and Al Furjan, new data by Propertyfinder has shown.
Prices at Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) dropped 11.8 per cent over a six month period between April and October 2017, Propertyfinder Trends data showed. Similarly, prices at Al Furjan fell 13.9 per cent over the same period. Dubai villa rents have seen the biggest decline in asking prices of all property types, according to the report, with several communities seeing double digit declines. Demand in affordable areas is rising, as are handovers; this means prices are going down as new stock becomes available, and Dubai residents are getting a bargain to boot.
"Today, its a market driven mostly by end users, and to a lesser extent, long term investors, mortgaged as opposed to cash buyers. Rises and falls in prices are temperate and influenced fundamentals of supply and demand and sentiment caused by regional and international political and economic events and currency movements," says Lukman Hajje, CCO of Propertyfinder Group.
JVC and Al Furjan were followed by Al Barsha, Mudon, and Jumeirah Islands on Propertyfinder's list of affordable locations to rent a villa.When it comes to renting an apartment, Dubai Land appears several times on the list, and is worth a look as a family-friendly option with lots of brand new units to its name. The area saw some 2,500 handovers in 2017. Dubai Silicon Oasis, Discovery Gardens, and Al Furjan are a similar story: a high rate of handovers, central locations with short commutes, and family-friendly.
"In recent years, Dubai's new development market has gone from strength to strength, with a myriad of new projects being announced, as well as delayed projects from the last boom market resuming. Handovers for this year alone are slated to be upwards of 32,000 units, with approximately a tenth of that amount already delivered year to date. With this in mind, there is an oversupply of off-the-plan projects, both affordable and luxury, completing in 2017 available for rent, and therefore rental yields have reduced. As overall supply continues to increase, it is unfortunately not being met by an appropriate net increase in demand," says Zaki Ameer, founder of Dream Design Real Estate.
According to Ameer, the most heavily transacted areas to focus on are Dubai South, Dubai Marina, Downtown, Business, Bay, Jumeirah Village Circle, and Mohammed Bin Rashid City.
"Residential sales in September 2016 for off-the-plan properties were sitting at around 1,500, and in September 2017 the figure was 1,752. So you can see that amid market fear, we have started to see some stability in regards to number of transactions. Interestingly to note, new research suggests that approximately 62.9 per cent of property industry professionals predict that there will be new enquiries for real estate, therefore a hopeful number of transactions to increase." 
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com