Survey suggests 30-50% fall in apartment prices
03 April 2009
An Arabian Business survey suggests UAE people believe house prices will fall between 30-50 per cent in 2009.
More than 1,000 householders in the UAE took part in the online newspaper poll during March, and when asked how much they expected freehold prices for apartments to rise or fall this year, 60 per cent of respondents said they expected a decline of between 30-50 per cent.
The response comes a few weeks after UAE investment bank Shuaa Capital said real estate values in Dubai could plummet by 60 per cent by the end of 2009. Declining occupancy rates to around 80 per cent would also cause rents to ease, Shuaa added.
In a separate report, Jones Lang LaSalle said Dubai property prices and rental rates were likely to start recovering in 2011, following a period of stabilisation in 2010. The company saw 2009 as a year of correction for Dubaìs property market amid the global economic downturn, with the emirate likely to be harder hit than other markets in the region due to its greater integration in the global economy.