Asking rents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are rising despite a fall in demand caused by falls in the global oil price a new report claims.
According to the online property listings portal bayut.com, which analyses property listings, asking rents in Dubai rose 1.57 per cent in May compared with the previous month and by 0.73 per cent in Abu Dhabi.
In Dubai it found that average rents for studio apartments went up 2 per cent to Dh57,000 in May while rents for one-bedroom apartments increased 1 per cent to Dh95,000. Average rents for two-bedroom flats remained stable at Dh149,000 and for three-bedroom apartments they rose 1 per cent to Dh206,000.
In Abu Dhabi bayut.com found that average asking rents for studio apartments stood at Dh63,000 a year while rents for one-bedroom flats fell 2 per cent to Dh97,000. Two-bedroom apartments continued to fetch an average rent of Dh139,000 and rents for three and four bedroom apartments stood at Dh184,000 and Dh254,000 respectively.
The findings contradict a number of other recent reports which said that rents in the two cities are currently falling as a result of job losses in the oil and gas and construction industries and an increase in the amount of new stock coming on to the market in Dubai.
Earlier this month Dubai-based consultancy Phidar said that rent declines in Dubai were getting steeper with average rents slipping 1.3 per cent in May, compared with a compound average drop of just 0.3 per cent since May 2014.
Last month Asteco reported that apartment rents in Abu Dhabi fell 2 per cent quarter on quarter with the most pronounced declines seen on Reem Island.
Both Phidar and Asteco base their findings on actual rents paid rather than asking rents.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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