Mubasher: The real estate market in Abu Dhabi registered a high amount of interest during the first quarter of 2019, due to the high return on investment (ROI) and large portfolio of affordable properties in the capital’s emerging areas, a recent press release said, according to ‘Abu Dhabi Q1 2019 Property Market Report’ by Bayut.com.
In Q1-19, the UAE capital’s property market has seen a marginal decline on average in sales and rental prices for both apartments and villas compared to the prices seen in the fourth quarter of 2018.
“Areas such as Mohammed bin Zayed City (MBZ City) and Khalifa City A are attracting a significant amount of interest from both tenants and investors, as can be seen from the high volume of searches in these areas,” according to the press release.
This positive trend in the real estate market in the UAE capital is ascribed to a number of factors, including delivery of prominent off-plan projects that result in increased investor confidence.
Highlight on property sales in Abu Dhabi
Al Reem Island is highly in-demand for apartment sales offering an ROI of 6.9%; Al Reef still is the most popular area for villa sales with an average ROI of 7.1% in Q1-19.
“The most significant changes for apartments are for 1-beds in Al Raha Beach, where the prices fell by 6.5% from an average of AED 1.1 million in Q4 to AED 1.03M now. This is followed by a 5.9% decrease in prices for 1-bedroom units in Al Reef from AED 680,000 to AED 640,000,” the press statement added.
For villas, there was a decline of 6.2% in sale prices for 5-bedroom villas in Al Reef to AED 2.13 million from AED 2.27 million.
“Another notable price change for sales is an increase of 6.3% for 2-bedroom apartments in Al Ghadeer from AED 800,000 in Q4 to AED 850,000 in this quarter, which could be attributed to the handover of a number of off-plan units in the area,” the statement added.
Glimpse of property rental in the UAE capital
Mohammed bin Zayed City (MBZ City) tops the market for both apartment and villa rentals in Abu Dhabi, with Zone 20 and Mohamed bin Zayed Centre being the most popular sub-communities respectively.
As for average apartments rental prices, the most significant changes in Q1-19 are for 2-bedroom units in MBZ City which experienced a 10% decline to AED 50,000 from AED 58,000 in Q4-18. This was followed by a drop of 9.4% decrease in 2-bed units in Corniche Road to AED 115,000 in Q1-19 compared to AED 127,000 in Q4 last year.
“For villas rentals, 3-bedroom units in Al Muroor dropped in rental prices by 8.3% from AED 120,000 in Q4 2018 to AED 110,000 now. This is followed by 3-bed units in Saadiyat Island, where prices fell by 7.7% from AED 325,000 to AED 300,000 in the first quarter of 2019,” the press release added.
Forecast for Second quarter in 2019
“The Abu Dhabi property market has undergone tremendous changes in the last two years, with several high profile off-plan projects being handed over and more luxury properties entering the market, particularly in waterfront communities such as Yas Island and Saadiyat Island,” CEO of Bayut Haider Ali Khan said.
He noted, “We have also seen a high number of prospective buyers searching for luxury properties in these areas, along with other upscale neighbourhoods such as Al Reem Island. Most decreases in the capital have remained modest with changes largely falling within the 5-6% margin.”
Furthermore, “Another interesting trend is the increased popularity for communities such as Khalifa City A, Shakhbout City and Al Ghadeer which are all ideally located for those commuting to Dubai.”
“We can expect these trends to carry on into the summer, and perhaps even see increases when more handovers are completed in the second half of the year,” the CEO of Bayut said.
