The number of new homes built in Abu Dhabi increased by 15.4 per cent in the second quarter of the year as a glut of new housing stock continues to hit the property market.
New figures from the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (Scad) published yesterday reveal a total of 3,565 homes were completed in the emirate during the three months to June, up from 3,088 in the first quarter.
Abu Dhabi city region accounted for the majority of the homes, where the total number of residential completions increased 17.3 per cent to 3,302. In Al Gharbia, the number of new homes built rose 42.2 per cent to 118 units. However, the number of new homes completed in the Al Ain region during the same period fell 23.3 per cent to just 145.
The figures also show the number of new homes finished has grown by 3.8 per cent in the emirate compared with the previous year when total home completions in the first quarter stood at 3,435 according to Scad. Figures for the second quarter were unavailable.
And property experts predict the number of new homes is set to continue to rise for the next 18 to 24 months as building projects started before the global economic downturn come on stream. The property services company Jones Lang LaSalle predicts 16,000 new homes will be completed in the emirate this year alone.
"These figures from the Statistics Centre confirm our forecasts," said Craig Plumb, Jones Lang LaSalle's head of research for the Middle East and North Africa region.
"And over the second half of the year we expect to see even more new homes completing in the emirate. We think this will continue for the next 18 to 24 months with significant levels of supply hitting the market, which is likely to increase vacancy rates for residential stock."
Scad reported, in total, 1,516 buildings were completed during the second quarter, a decrease of 72 compared with the first quarter of the year. Of these, 1,144, or 75.5 per cent, were intended for residential use. The number of additions or extensions to existing buildings decreased from 136 in the first quarter of the year to 89 in the second quarter. In Abu Dhabi Scad said a total of 1,023 buildings were completed during the second quarter, a 27.2 per cent decrease compared with the first three months of this year.
The number of completed buildings in the Al Ain region stood at a total of 138 for the period, down from a total of 180 during the first quarter. But in Al Gharbia, the number of completed buildings increased to a total of 355 compared with just 50 during the first quarter.
In Abu Dhabi 921 of the buildings completed were for housing. Another 44 were for industrial use and 12 were designated as commercial buildings.
The estimated average construction cost in the emirate stood at Dh3,128 per square metre during the first quarter, a fall of about 14.9 per cent compared with the same period last year when it stood at Dh3,597.
Scad found buildings with a construction area of between 300 square metres and 599 sq meters had the highest cost at Dh3,382 per sq metre. Buildings with a total construction area of more than 1,200 sq metres had the lowest construction cost of Dh3,013 per sq metre.
