Dubai rents falling or holding steady

Rents are either falling or holding steady in Dubai’s freehold communities, reveals the latest update of Real Estate Regulatory Agency’s (Rera) rental index, as compared to the update released in May.

Downtown Dubai, an upscale community, is witnessing rental declines across all categories of apartments – studios, one- and two-bed units.
Studio rates are down 6.25 per cent to 7.14 per cent, as per the final index update with rents ranging between Dh65,000 and Dh75,000 per annum (pa).

One-bed units, available for Dh90,000 to Dh110,000 pa, have witnessed a decline of 8.33 per cent to 10 per cent, while two-bed units, renting for Dh160,000 to Dh190,000 pa, are seeing rents fall by 5.88 per cent.

Though rents for one- and two-bed apartments in Dubai Marina remained stable at Dh90,000 to Dh120,000 pa and Dh140,000 to Dh170,000 pa, studio rents have come down by between 6.67 and 8.33 per cent.

Leases for studios now range between Dh55,000 and Dh70,000 pa.

Dubai’s ‘affordable communities’ are also witnessing a decline in rents.

Rents for studio apartments in International City dropped by 12.5 per cent to Dh20,000 to Dh35,000 pa, while two-bed units saw a fall of 8.33 per cent with lease rates between Dh45,000 and Dh55,000 pa.

There was, however, no change in rates of one-bed units (rentals were between Dh35,000 and Dh45,000 pa).

In Discovery Gardens, studio rents dropped by 10 per cent to Dh40,000 – Dh45,000 pa, while lease rates for one-beds declined between 7 – 8.5 per cent.
Rents range between Dh55,000 and Dh65,000 pa. Two beds, however, remained steady at Dh70,000-85,000 pa.

In Remraam, studio lease rates fell between 11 and 12.5 per cent to Dh35,000 to Dh40,000 pa.

One-beds saw no changes and rates remained at Dh45,000 to Dh55,000 pa.

Rents for two-bed apartments declined 6.27 per cent to 14.28 per cent, with leases now available between Dh60,000 and Dh75,000 pa. There was no change in rents across Business Bay, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, and Dubai Silicon Oasis.

In Business Bay, lease rates for studios, one- and two-bed apartments remained between Dh60,000-Dh70,000 pa, Dh80,000-Dh100,000 pa and Dh120,000-Dh140,000 pa, respectively.

In JLT, rents for studio, one- and two-bed units continued to be around Dh55,000-75000 pa, Dh80,000-Dh100,000 pa and Dh120,000-Dh150,000 pa, respectively.

Studios, one- and two-bed units in Dubai Silicon Oasis remained at Dh35,000-Dh40,000 pa, Dh50,000-Dh60,000 pa and Dh60,000-Dh75,000 pa, respectively.

Rera, the regulatory arm of Dubai Land Department, updates the rent index thrice in a year.

If your contract is coming up for renewal, you can check the maximum increase allowed by the law through the rental index calculator, which applies the rent decree issued in 2013.

In order to control the arbitrary rent increases, Dubai government released a new rent decree in December 2013.

The Decree, No 43 of 2013 now sets a specific band for maximum rent increases that a landlord can demand at the time of renewing leases. The decree is applicable to private and public sector owned properties in Dubai, as well as within the free zones.

– No rent increase if the rent of the property unit is less than 10 per cent of the average rent of a similar property in the same residential area.

– If the rent value is between 11 per cent and 20 per cent less than the average rent of a similar property, the maximum rent increase shall be equal to 5 per cent of the rent value.

– If the rental value of a unit is between 21 and 30 per cent less than the average rent of a similar unit, the maximum rent increase shall be equal to 10 per cent of the rental value.

– If the rental value of a property is between 31 and 40 per cent less than the average rental of a similar property, the maximum rent increase shall be equal to 15 per cent of the rental value.

– If the rental value of a property unit is less than 40 per cent or more of the average rent of a similar unit, the maximum rent increase applicable is of 20 per cent.

The average similar rental value of the property will be determined by the Rera’s rent index.-Emirates 24-7