ABU DHABI, DUBAI —In Q1 of 2019, the Abu Dhabi property market has seen sales and rental prices experience marginal decreases on average for both apartments and villas compared to the prices seen in Q4 of 2018.

In Dubai, over the last quarter, sale prices for apartments in Dubai Marina have experienced a minor decline.

In Abu Dhabi, areas such as MBZ City and Khalifa City A are attracting a significant amount of interest from both tenants and investors, as can be seen from the high volume of searches in these areas. A number of factors can be attributed to this positive trend, including delivery of prominent off-plan projects resulting in increased investor confidence.

The high ROI and large portfolio of affordable properties in the capital’s emerging areas have led to a high amount of interest in the Abu Dhabi property market.

Al Reem Island is highly in-demand for apartment sales offering an ROI of 6.9%. Within Al Reem Island, Marina Square was the most-searched-for building by potential investors.

Al Reef continues as the most popular area for villa sales with Al Reef Villas attracting the most attention from potential investors. The average ROI for villas in Al Reef is at 7.1% for Q1 2019

The most significant changes for apartments are for 1-beds in Al Raha Beach, where the prices fell by 6.5% from an average of AED1.1M in Q4 to AED1.03M now. This is followed by a 5.9% decrease in prices for 1-bedroom units in Al Reef from AED680k to AED640k.

Similarly, for villas, there was a 6.2% decrease in sale prices for 5-bedroom villas in Al Reef from AED2.27M to AED2.13M.

Another notable price change for sales is an increase of 6.3% for 2-bedroom apartments in Al Ghadeer from AED800k in Q4 to AED850k in this quarter, which could be attributed to the handover of a number of off-plan units in the area.

This time Mohammed Bin Zayed City (MBZ City) takes the crown in both apartment and villa rentals in Abu Dhabi with Zone 20 and Mohamed Bin Zayed Centre being the most popular sub-communities respectively.

In terms of average rental prices for apartments, the most significant changes are for 2-bedroom units in MBZ City which experienced a 10% drop from AED58k in Q4 to AED50k in the present quarter. This was followed by a 9.4% decrease for 2-bed units in Corniche Road from AED127k in the last quarter of 2018 to AED115k in Q1 2019.

For villas rentals, 3-bedroom units in Al Muroor dropped in rental prices by 8.3% from AED120k in Q4 2018 to AED110k now. This is followed by 3-bed units in Saadiyat Island, where prices fell by 7.7% from AED325k to AED300k in the first quarter of 2019.

Continuing the trend seen in Q4 of 2018, the sale prices for apartments in Al Reem Island remain largely stable with marginal decreases. The average prices for studios, 1-bed and 2-beds stand at AED600k and AED872.1k and 1.45M respectively.

A large majority of the areas did not experience any significant changes in sales prices for Q1 2019. The only notable price difference is for 1-beds in Al Raha Beach where the prices dropped by 6.5% from AED1.1M in Q4 2018 to AED1.03M now. This is followed by 1-bed units in Al Reef where prices dropped by 5.9% from AED680k to AED640k.

There were also minimal changes for a few units in Al Ghadeer and Al Reef. In Al Ghadeer, average prices for studios decreased by 4.8%, from AED420k to AED400k and for Al Reef the 2-bedroom apartments decreased by 3.7% from AED830k to AED799k.

As for the other popular areas like Yas Island and prices across the board remained constant at AED800k, AED1.2M and 1.95M for studios, 1-bed and 2-bed units respectively.

Within MBZ City, the notable changes are a 10% drop for 2-bed units from AED58k in Q4 to AED50k now. As for studios and 1-beds, the prices are at AED25.5k and AED42k, respectively.

Most areas in Dubai have seen modest declines in sale prices under 6% with the exception of Business Bay and Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR). Business Bay has seen prices for 1-bedroom units drop by 8.6%, while prices for the same in JBR have declined by 6.7%.

Search trends show that interest remains high on luxury destinations such as Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai and Palm Jumeirah, all of which feature in the list of top 10 most popular areas with users. There has been a minor decline in sales and rental prices in Q1 2019 compared to those seen in Q4 of 2018, but changes remain modest.

Continuing the trend seen across most parts of 2018, Dubai Marina takes the crown as the most popular area for apartment sales with Marina Diamonds being the most-searched building in the area for Q1 2019. The upscale apartments here have an average ROI of 6.4%. Arabian Ranches takes the top spot for villa sales with an ROI of 5.8%. The sub-community of Al Reem is predictably the most popular with potential investors.

The most notable of the price changes for apartment sales is an 8.6% decrease for 1-bedroom units in Business Bay, where prices fell from AED1.12M in Q4 2018 to AE1M in Q1 2019.

For villa sales, the most significant changes have occurred in DAMAC Hills, where prices for 4-bedroom units have seen a decline of 9.7%, falling from AED2.88M to AED2.6M. This could be attributed to the handover of more units, creating a larger portfolio of units with smaller square footage than what was available in Q4 of 2018.

When compared to Q4 2018, 1-bedroom units in the area have seen the most significant decrease of 3.3% with prices dropping from AED1.19M to AED1.15M. Meanwhile, average prices for studios and 2-bedroom units have also decreased marginally and stand at AED800k and AED1.9M respectively for this quarter.

However, affordable communities such as International City and Dubai Sports City have witnessed an uptick in prices for 2-bedroom units. Prices for these units in International City have risen from AED690k to AED700k, while in Dubai Sports City, prices have jumped from AED875k to AED900k. Interestingly, both areas also boast the highest ROI in Q1 2019 for apartments. The average ROI in International City stands at an impressive 9.7% while Dubai Sports City’s apartments deliver an ROI of 7.9%.

Dubai Marina bounces back to the top position for apartment rentals in Q1 2019, with Marina Pinnacle being the most sought-after building for potential tenants. For villa rentals, Mirdif remains the most popular area, while Uptown Mirdif accounts for the majority of the searches in the area.

For apartments, Deira has seen the most significant changes in rental prices in Q1 2019. 2-bedroom units here have declined in prices from AED90k in Q4 2018 to AED80k now.

Meanwhile, the sale price for studio apartments in JBR has also climbed by 1.8% from AED990k in Q4 2018 and average at AED1.01M in Q1 2019.

Dubai Marina bounces back to the top position for apartment rentals in Q1 2019. Its return to the top spot can be credited to renters looking to take advantage of attractive prices and upgrade to the premium location. The rental prices for apartments in Dubai Marina have remained largely stable. Studios and 1-bedroom units here have remained steady at AED55k and AED80k respectively. However, 2-bedroom apartments have seen rentals fall by 4.2%, pushing prices down from AED120k to AED115k.

Other notable changes include a fall in rental prices for 2-bedroom units in Deira and Downtown Dubai. Potential tenants can now find a 2-bedroom apartment in Deira for AED80k, while the same unit in Downtown Dubai averages at AED127k in Q1 2019.

The only area to witness an increase in rental prices is Dubai Silicon Oasis, where 2-bedroom apartments have risen by 4.2%, from AED72k to AED75k. The increase in prices here can be attributed to the addition of larger units in the market for this property type and recent handovers of completed projects.

Arabian Ranches continues to be the most popular location with potential investors. The sale prices for 3-bedroom villas here have dipped by a significant 7% over the last quarter, from AEDAED2.79M to AED2.6M. However, 4 and 5-bedroom units have experienced little to no change, standing at AED3.8M and AED4.5M respectively.

Another area that has seen a substantial decline in prices is DAMAC Hills (Akoya by DAMAC). Prices for 4-bedroom villas have fallen from AED2.88M to AED2.6M in Q1 2019, while 3-bedroom units have declined from AED2.55M to AED2.4M.

The family-friendly area of The Springs has also experienced a fall in sale prices for 4-bedroom villas. These units now average at AED2.66M, dropping by 8.1% in Q1 2019. The Springs also remains as the area with the highest ROI for villas in Dubai at 6.3%.

In the exclusive community of Emirates Hills, 6-bedroom units are most popular amongst investors, consequently raising prices by 3.4% for these high-end units from AED29.9M to AED31M in Q1 2019. 4-bedroom units in Emirates Hills follow in popularity and have witnessed a slight decrease of 0.9% in prices, with average sales price dipping to AED17M.

Palm Jumeirah is another area where sale prices have witnessed an upswing for certain units. Investors will find that prices for 5-bedroom villas in Palm Jumeirah have increased by 3.1%, raising prices from AED16M to AED16.5M.

Mirdif continues to dominate as the most-searched area for villa rentals in Dubai. However, prices for 5-bedroom villas in the area have decreased by 6.7%, from AED142k to AED132.5k in Q1 2019. Otherwise, prices for 3 and 4-bedroom units have remained steady at AED105k and AED120k respectively.

Other notable price changes included a fall in prices by 7.8% for 5-bedroom units in Palm Jumeirah, now averaging at AED415k. Similarly, 4-bedroom units in Umm Suqeim have also dropped by 7.5% in rental prices, dropping from AED200k to AED185k.

Established areas like Jumeirah and Al Barsha have seen an uptick in rental prices for 3-bedroom units. Potential tenants will find that these units in Jumeirah have risen from AED160k to AED170k and in Al Barsha from AED150k to AED155k.

Rental prices in the popular location of Arabian Ranches have remained stable for all units, experiencing no change over the last quarter.

For villa sales, Al Reem remains the most-searched-for sub-community within Arabian Ranches, drawing in 47.9% of overall investor interest. Meanwhile, the luxury Signature Villas account for a significant 57.5% of the searches in Palm Jumeirah. Lastly, Living Legend brought in the lion’s share of interest in Dubailand. — SG