The Dubai property market has shown signs of recovery in the second half of 2020, despite the mobility restrictions and economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Zawya reports.
“Despite early forecasts during the height of mobility restrictions that prices would fall by much higher margins, the market has quickly recovered with price reductions largely being in line with the trends seen across the previous two years,” Bayut & Dubizzle 2020 Annual Property Market Report shows.
Based on the data gathered from the two property portals, the sales and rental markets in the emirate have shown a high level of tenacity, with price reductions staying in line with the patterns observed in 2018 and 2019, as reported by Zawya.
The record-breaking traffic of over seven million sessions generated on Bayut & Dubizzle in a single month during December 2020, points to appetite returning to the market in the second half of 2020, the report said.
According to their combined annual sales and rental market reports for 2020, the most popular neighborhoods have reported price declines largely between 2-10 %for properties for sale, while rental properties have seen reductions between 9-17 %.
Rental yields were the highest in Dubai’s International City in 2020 with average rental yields at 8.5% as investors went for affordable apartments with a high return on investment (ROI). In the luxury apartments category, Dubai Marina yielded an ROI of 6.2%.
According to data released by the Dubai Land Department (DLD), transactions worth over 60 billion dirhams took place in 2020 of which 20,716 were residential sales transactions worth AED 27.2 bn. Off-plan transactions accounted for 53% of total residential transactions at AED 14.4 bn. Ready properties deals were worth AED 12.8 bn.
Emaar’s Dubai Creek Harbour was the favorite in off-plan apartment sales, while Golf Place in Dubai Hills Estate has captured the attention of buyers looking for upscale off-plan villas.
“While this could be the result of ready property owners evaluating the market situation during the pandemic, it has also highlighted the accessibility of the off-plan market, especially for first-time buyers and smaller investors,” Fibha Ahmed, the director of sales for Bayut & Dubizzle says.