Dubai property transactions down almost 50% in some areas but signs of uptick

Pace of decline slowing in areas such as Downtown and JLT according to Reidin data.

The Old Town by Emaar Properties in Downtown Dubai. Sarah Dea / The National

The number of housing transactions in Dubai may have plummeted this year by nearly half, but analysts say that there are signs of an uptick in some areas.

According to the property data company Reidin, the number of property sales in some parts of the city has fallen by more than 45 per cent since the most recent peak in 2013.

In its most recent report, Reidin found that the number of sales conducted during the first nine months of the year in Dubai Marina fell to less than 1,500 compared with 2,250 during the same period last year and about 2,700 in 2013.

In Downtown, the number of transactions for the same period fell to about 500 this year compared with 800 in last year and 750 in 2013.

And in Jumeirah Lakes Towers numbers stood at about 1,200 this year, a similar amount to last year but down from about 1,600 in 2013.

Reidin said that when it analysed housing transactions in the same areas for the third quarter of the year, it found that the pace of decline was slowing and in some cases there was a slight uptick.

In Dubai Marina the number of transactions in the third quarter of this year stood at about 400, slightly down from the 450 reported the previous year and the 900 or so reported in 2013.

But in Downtown the number of sales in the third quarter of this year stood at about 190, slightly higher than the 180 reported last year but still down on the 210 reported in 2013.

And in JLT, too, transaction numbers for the third quarter of this year were higher than the same period the previous year – standing at about 400 compared with 390 last year but down from 600 in 2013.

“Q3 2014 versus Q3 2015 shows an uptick of activity signalling that a period of stabilisation may be on the horizon,” Reidin said in its report.

The company said that it had also noted an increase in the number of properties purchased with mortgages – a method of buying usually associated with owner-occupiers rather than landlords.

Last week, the property broker Cluttons said that the Dubai market was likely to continue to soften with a revival in its fortunes unlikely to take place until at least the end of next year.

The company’s Winter Residential Market Outlook stated that prices for flats dropped by 0.8 per cent and villas by 0.5 per cent during the third quarter, meaning that overall prices for homes have dropped by 3.5 per cent year-on-year.

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