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Potential property buyers stopped looking for affordable options in the UAE Northern Emirates due to the increased affordable housing supply in Dubai, Asteco Northern Emirates Q2 2015 real estate report revealed.
The real estate market in Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah saw a decrease in activity in the second quarter as a result of too high prices and increased number of offerings — the report said.
"Sharjah's sales market has opened up in recent months, however, except for land plots at Tilal City that were priced in line with market demand, few properties have actually been sold due to the high asking prices, which failed to match buyer expectations," said John Stevens, Managing Director, Asteco. Moreover, according to Asteco, Sharjah loses out to Dubai in terms of transparency of the legislation regulating buying and selling in the real estate market.
However, despite the decline in consumer interest in Sharjah real estate, demand may return in the near future due to the two new major developments in Tilal City and Al Nour island. The latter is a unique project with a floating bridge serving as an entrance to the island and a park with live butterflies, a 3500 meters pedestrian area and other infrastructure designed to bring here investors and tourists.
Rental property market in the Northern Emirates also noted a decline in activity and a slight decline in prices of about 3% on average. The reason for this is in general increase of the housing stock due to the new handovers. However, current lease figures are still higher than last year’s in the emirates of Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain.
The best Q2 property market performance among all Northern Emirates, according to Asteco, was noted in Ras Al Khaimah, where second quarter was marked with a high occupancy rates in rental property, and a rather high level of demand in sales segment, particularly for the townhouses and villas in Al Hamra Village and Mina Al Arab residential complexes with adequate market prices.
