Dubai real estate transactions fall by more than 50%

Sales numbers in Dubai have been falling steadily since the end of last year. Pawan Singh / The National

The total number of property transactions in Dubai halved last month compared with a year earlier as the market slowdown continued.

According to the latest figures from the Dubai Land Department, the total number of transactions in the emirate plunged 51.8 per cent to 7,311 last month compared with April 2014.

The total value of transactions last month was Dh35.3 billion – down 37.1 per cent on the previous year.

Sales numbers in Dubai have been falling steadily since the end of last year after the Dubai government introduced tough new mortgage caps and higher transaction fees in an attempt to slow what had been one of the fastest rising housing markets in the world.

The fall in volumes was one factor that prompted the consultancy JLL and the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to predict that average house prices in the emirate would fall by between 10 and 20 per cent this year.

And last month the Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte predicted average house prices in Dubai would fall between 1 and 5 per cent in the first half of 2015 before levelling off in the second half of the year. According to the property consultancy CBRE, average house prices in the emirate fell 2 per cent during the first three months of 2015.

“These figures come as no surprise although from the face of it they look quite dramatic,” said Craig Plumb, the head of research at JLL’s Dubai office. “A fall in volumes is a good leading indicator that prices will fall and we expect that to continue for the rest of this year. Last April the market was still booming, so any year-on-year figures will reflect that fact.”

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