Villa owners in Dubai asking too high a price for current market conditions, survey suggests

Owners of villas in Dubai are failing to match their asking prices to reality, according to a survey of real estate brokers in the emirate.

This is leading to fewer enquiries translating into sales. According to real estate website propertyfinder.ae there has been a 2% increase in searches for villas but a 13% fall in viewing.

Agents polled by the website said the decline reflected a jump in villa prices in the city’s more established developments, following signs of a tentative recovery in the property market.

‘Villas have been very active in the last year and the pricing in The Springs, Meadows, and many other mature communities has increased,’ said Noman Mehmood, senior sales associate at Dubai based TAKtical Realty Group.
‘In the last quarter, because there was a lot of interest from potential buyers and genuine transactions happening we had a lot of sellers who priced themselves out of the market,’ he added.

Villas in Arabian Ranches dropped from the fourth most popular search for buyers in the third quarter to sixth in the fourth quarter while searches for Jumeirah Lake Towers and Jumeirah Beach Residence increased.
Interest among renters in Arabian Ranches also significantly declined from the fourth most popular search in the third quarter to sixth in the fourth quarter. Searches for homes to rent in Jumeirah Lake Towers and Jumeirah Beach Residence increased.

Dubai Marina was the most searched area for buyers and renters in the fourth quarter in terms of property views and emails sent while property in the Marina represented nearly 19% of all searches followed by Palm Jumeirah at 10% and Jumeirah Lakes Towers at 7.3%.

Renters showed increased interest Jumeirah Village Circle, which jumped from nineteen to eleventh position in terms of buyers searching, doubling their share due to the number of properties available at low prices.

Rented property priced at AED60,000 to AED80,000 annually remained the most popular search criteria for the third quarter running followed by those priced at AED80,000 to AED100,00.

The most searched price for property to buy was AED1 to AED1.5 million followed by AED1.5 to AED2 million. Some 30% of all searches were for properties valued less than AED1 million.

Two bedroom properties were the most searched for and emailed category in terms of sales and rentals in the fourth quarter. Two bedroom homes represented over 22% of all buyers searches and just over 30% of renters searches.