Dubai apartment rents up but Abu Dhabi’s down significantly in Feb

The average apartment rent in Dubai increased slightly last month but there was a significant decline in Abu Dhabi, according to Bayut.com.

The listings site said the average rent in Dubai increased from Dhs114,000 to Dhs115,000 while there was an 8 per cent decline in Abu Dhabi to Dhs110,000.

The average one-bed apartment rent in Dubai was down 3 per cent on the previous month to Dhs87,000, but the average sale price actually increased 4 per cent to Dhs1.32m, according to the firm.

Two bed rents remained the same averaging 137,000, while three-bed rents and prices were down 2 per cent from January to average Dhs188,000 and Dhs3.5m respectively

The average yield across the city stood at 6 per cent.

Bayut said it expected central areas like Dubai Marina, Deira and Jumeirah Lake Towers to see less demand in favour of more suburban locations.

In Abu Dhabi, the greatest rental decline was seen for studios, down 8 per cent on January to Dhs44,000.

One-bed rents were down 5 per cent to Dhs81,000 and four-bed a larger unit rents decreased 3 per cent to Dhs217,000.

The average yield across Dubai stood at 6 per cent and fell to 6.1 per cent in Abu Dhabi.

Bayut said the decreasing rates were not “cause for concern” and said real estate activity would pickup as planning for Expo 2020 in Dubai continued.

“And that might be one reason many players are still observing the market from the sidelines, resulting in a reduction of demand, and subsequently, prices,” it said.