
Rents in Dubai have been falling since the fourth quarter 2014 and have continued to slide marginally in the first quarter 2015, according to Cluttons.
“Residential rents have continued to slowly soften. During Q4 2014, rents dipped by -1.9%, leaving the total rental value growth last year at a marginal 0.4%. This has however been completely negated by the -0.4% dip in average rents during the first quarter, which now leaves rents -1.5% below this time last year,” the real estate consultancy said in its Spring 2015 update on the emirate’s real estate market.
It said apartment rentals declined by 0.3% while villas dipped by 0.5% in the first quarter, but many households are “yet to feel the benefit of this.”
“With the Rera rent index system yet to evolve into a complex rental matrix that factors variables such as views, size of units, age of the building, etc., it will continue to lag reality, leaving tenants somewhat constrained by a rental index that does not fully reflect market conditions,” the report said.
Emirates 24|7 reported earlier that rents for apartments across Dubai remained stable as per the second update of the official rent index. We have reported that the new index was planned for release this year, but no update has been released by the Dubai Land Department.