Dubai house prices see 47% annual decline

Dubai house prices recorded the second largest quarterly drop, falling 7.5 percent in the three months to June this year, a global property survey of 33 cities said on Thursday.Property values in Bulgaria plunged the most in the second quarter this year, slipping 9.7 percent, property consultant Knight Frank said in its latest Global House Price Index.

Dubai saw the largest annual fall in house prices to June this year of 47.3 percent, followed by Singapore where the average cost of residential property dropped 27.7 percent in the same period, the survey said.

But Knight Frank said there was evidence that Dubai’s struggling housing market was improving.

“Prices are still falling in Dubai, but the decline has slowed sharply,” Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, said in a statement.

“The second-quarter drop in Dubai was only 7.5 percent compared with a massive 41 percent slide during the previous three months. While the market still remains over supplied, transaction volumes have started to increase on the back of reduced asking prices, the increased availability of credit and more certainty from developers regarding the completion dates of projects,” he added.

Global housing markets have showed signs of "tentative" recovery, with values rising in almost half of the countries surveyed, the report said.