UAE rent rises slow to a standstill - report

The cost of renting a one-bed apartment in Dubai did not rise at all during the last three months of 2008, according to a new report.

This was part of a general slowdown in rent rises for many apartments in Dubai and Abu Dhabi during the period, the UAE-based property services firm Asteco said in its fourth quarter report.

In Abu Dhabi, rents for units with two or three bedrooms also levelled off, UAE daily The National reported on Monday.

After years of extreme rental inflation, it seemed the UAE would at last enjoy a sustained period of stability, Andrew Chambers, the managing director of Asteco, told the paper.

“Certainly for the next three to nine months I don’t think there will be anything that will cause a move back to rapid inflation,” Chambers said.

Average annual rent for studios, and apartments with one, two and three bedrooms in Dubai were 80,000, 123,000, 165,000 and 243,000 dirhams respectively, Asteco reported.

Average rents for villas in Dubai climbed by eight per cent between the third and fourth quarters of last year. The company did not release similar figures for the capital.

The report just days after Rera, Dubai’s property market regulator, said a rental index would soon be released and would provide price bands for various types of property in different areas of the city.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM