Cluttons: Sales and rent rates for Dubai's villas, apartments declining

DUBAI: Cluttons’s latest research shows that villa and apartment sales rates in Dubai continue to decline in the third quarter of 2010.

During the period, villa sales prices fell by 4.3%, and apartment sales prices fell by 8.7%, while villa rental prices were reduced by 8.2% and apartment rental prices slipped by 6.1%.

In an effort to help benchmark property values in Dubai, Cluttons has formed a partnership with Bloomberg, a portal for financial information and news, according to Cluttons in a press statement on Monday, October 4.

Cluttons launched the Bloomberg Middle Eastern Property Index at Cityscape Global 2010 on Monday, Oct 4.

The index offers comprehensive price data for both villas and apartments from 2006 onwards. The figures are based on 1,000 sales transactions and over 10,000 residential valuations.

The information and analysis provided in the index are created by analyzing 20 leading residential areas in Dubai. These areas are categorised into high-, medium- and low-end according to specification, said Cluttons.

Properties in the Burj Khalifa district and the Palm Jumeirah are classified as high-end, while Jumeirah Lake Towers is in the medium-end, and Discovery Gardens and International City are in the low-end range.

There are plans to expand the index to include property movements of Abu Dhabi and each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the near future, said Steven Morgan, head of Cluttons, UEA.

"An important feature of the index is that it only considers valuations and sales achieved, and excludes new launches that are typically priced higher.  This helps it reflect the real story and act as a true barometer of the state of the Dubai property market,” added Morgan.

Cluttons is taking part in the annual Cityscape Global 2010, which is held from October 4 to 7 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

Cityscape Global is one of the world’s largest international business-to-business real estate investment and development conferences held annually, and features an exhibition that brings together regional and international companies from various fields related to property.