Apartment price drop in Dubai slows

A new report has found apartment prices in Dubai dropped by 2.3 per cent from October to last month.

Apartment prices in Dubai continue to drop, a new report says.

From October to last month, sale prices for apartments of more than 100 square meters slid about 2.3 per cent, according to data tracked by REIDIN.com.

Apartments from 101 sq metres to 150 sq metres were selling for 6.3 per cent less than in November last year, while apartments larger than 151 sq metres were priced 7.9 per cent lower, the research firm said.

Prices for apartments of less than 50 sq metres were down 17.5 per cent from a year earlier but declined only 0.10 per cent from October to last month, according to REIDIN, which uses transaction data from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency. Prices for apartments of 51 sq metres to 100 sq metres increased 0.11 per cent.

"Prices are more or less settled," said Ahmet Kayhan, the chief executive of REIDIN.com.

Apartment prices overall dropped 7 per cent from the second quarter to the third quarter, according to data from the property brokerage Colliers International, one of several companies tracking apartment prices in Dubai.

"When you look at apartments, you need to look at areas and quality of the stock," said Catherine Clarke, the director of residential valuations for Colliers International's UAE office.

"In areas where the banks are lending, there seems to be a certain amount of stabilisation."

Jonathan Fothergill, the director of UAE valuations for Cluttons Middle East, said that while prices were continuing to decline, the slippage was "at a much slower rate".