51% feel priced out of UAE property market

HOMES SURVEY: Many people feel priced out of the UAE housing market, according to a new poll.

A survey in the UAE has revealed that more than 50 percent of local residents feel priced out of the property market.

Propertyfinder.ae conducted a three-month online survey and found that 51 percent of the 619 respondents felt they were unable to buy in the region.

Despite recent rental increases, the results indicate that renting remains the most viable option for those looking to live in the UAE.

Of those polled almost 40 percent spend less than 20 percent of their monthly income on rent, while only eight percent spend more than half of their monthly salary on accommodation.

In addition, close to 70 percent of those taking part in the survey said their maintenance costs were included in their rental fees.

Michael Lahyani, CEO of propertyfinder.ae, said: "The poll has revealed some interesting and contradictory statistics from the end user participants.

"While 35 percent of those polled claim to be satisfied with their accommodation, more than half (56 percent) will be looking to move in the next six months. This could be due to the anticipated rental increases coming into effect in January.

"There is a noticeable lack of fundamental information regarding issues affecting end users' decision making. We hope to address this with a series of market relevant surveys throughout the year which will help to build up valuable industry insights," he added.

The survey polled UAE residents on a variety of housing related topics ranging from satisfaction levels and to percentage of salary spent on accommodation.

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READERS' COMMENTS

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One Policy
Posted by Nomad, Toronto, Canada on Monday 18 August 2008 at 10:52 UAE time

It's a case of Get Rich or Get Lost.

Thanks for ure info
Posted by aaqib on Monday 18 August 2008 at 02:06 UAE time

Mr Kenneth ... All summing it up means that there's a spider web at every corner. Investing millions in properties also doesn't bring financial ease at the end & that also if we're lucky to get a successful investment.
I would be hitting my head if I was in this position coz there's not much gap between Aed 29000 & my current rental amount.

Thanks for the eye opener
Posted by Saeed Iqbal, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 17 August 2008 at 21:12 UAE time


Dear Kenneth, Thanks for sharing your story and experience. I am sure there is a lot happening out there which we dont get to hear. Though I am not planning but my wife has been insisting and now I am happy that I haven't made that decision as yet. Thanks again and all the best.

The Truth
Posted by Trevor, Dubai on Sunday 17 August 2008 at 17:05 UAE time


Because there is no price transparency it is whatever you want to make it.

Makes no sense!!
Posted by SR, Dubai on Sunday 17 August 2008 at 13:13 UAE time


All these contradictory reports does not make any sense. One report sometime back said that property prices are low in comparison to major cities whilst this one contradicts that report.
Whom are we to believe??

Rent or Buy to get ahead in Dubai?
Posted by Kenneth John, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 17 August 2008 at 13:00 UAE time

In 2004 when we moved to Dubai we were shocked to find that the rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in Al Barsha was AED 43,000. At that time we were under the impression that this was a huge amount of money, however, as the rent steadily increased year on year, we now see that we were out of touch back then with the "Growth of Dubai".
As the rent was steadily increasing, 2 years ago, we thought that we would take some control and become our own landlord by buying a one bedroom flat at the then under construction Discovery Gardens.
Up until last week we were put under the impression that our 968 Square foot apartment would have a maintenance of around AED 7/9,000 per year and had built this into our long term financial planning.
Reality struck when the cost of both the community Service and Building Service charges came to AED 18,163 for the first year. Coupled with the fact that we had already paid the 2% of the total cost to get the unit registered an additional AED 9,450 was expected from us for the "Land Registration Charge". Slowly recovering from these disappointing costs we were shocked to find out that before we would receive the keys to our own new apartment we would also have to pay the additional cost of AED 10,656 for the "District Cooling Charge" that would also be charged on a yearly basis.
So for our new one bedroom flat in the newly developed Discovery Gardens we will now pay a yearly fee of the Community Service & Building Service & District Cooling Charges of nearly AED 29,000.
Apart from being agonizingly disappointed that we now own our "Dubai Dream one bedroom property" with these additional yearly charges we wanted to highlight the "reality" of buying a property in Dubai for people who are thinking of "shaking off the landlord".
In reality you have the major developers at the top who pass these costs onto the companies who purchase the development. The costs are then passed from the companies who purchased the development onto the people who are purchasing the individual properties. As in most cases in Dubai the owners of the properties (landlords) then pass the costs to the end users who are renting the properties. So Try to get ahead whichever which way you can!! Sure love the property game in Dubai........don't you?

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