Dubai property prices fall again in fourth quarter

Property prices in Dubai continued on their downward trend in the fourth quarter of 2015, new figures show.

The latest residential research released by Phidar Advisory shows that apartment prices in the emirate declined by 12.7 per cent during 2014, while villa prices were down by even more at 14.8 per cent.

What’s more, Phidar’s Dubai Real Estate International Demand Index dropped by a massive 83 per cent by the end of 2015, primarily driven by negative exchange rate fluctuations.

Prior to 2015, property prices had been rising rapidly for two years, following sharp declines caused by the global financial crisis of the late noughties. However, Dubai property experts believe that far from being a market crash, as was the case previously, the current price drop is a more natural levelling out of the market.

The latest figures show that lease rates also fell for apartments and villas during 2015, by 1.9 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.

However, average net yields are still healthy, with villas netting investors approximately 5.1 per cent return on investment a year and apartments 6.7 per cent.