After being tenant-friendly in recent years, the rental market will balance out and begin to favor landlords; however, rental increases will not be uniform across the city, according to experts.
According to analysts, top executives, and industry experts, the Covid-19 variant will continue to impact remote working, supporting demand for villas and larger units.
“As a result of changing working and living habits, villa developments, both mature and emerging, experienced a surge in demand and, as a result, a rise in rental and occupancy rates.” According to industry experts, villa rents could rise by up to 15% in the coming quarters due to high demand from new residents.
influx of newcomers
According to Richard Waind, group managing director of Betterhomes, occupancy levels in freehold Dubai are now well above pre-pandemic levels, though older parts of Dubai continue to lag behind, and landlords in older, leasehold areas are increasingly needing to upgrade their properties or offer discounts to attract new tenants.
Rents will continue to rise
According to Ata Shobeiry, CEO of Zoom Property, rents in prime areas of Dubai are expected to continue rising as the emirate attracted global investors following its successful fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and recent visa reforms.
“While Dubai’s residential property market continues to attract foreign investment, the rental segment is also improving, with several areas reporting rent increases last month, with Jumeirah Islands and MBR City recording the highest increases.” This pattern of growth is expected to continue throughout the rest of the year as the market recovers,” Shobeiry told Khaleej Times.
The housing market is constrained
On the back of an already tight housing market, average rental prices increased in the first quarter. According to Betterhomes, while apartment, townhouse, and villa rentals increased to 33%, 25%, and 64%, respectively, there was a decrease in the number of inquiries and active listings hitting the market.
According to Yousuf Fakhruddin, CEO of Fakhruddin Properties, there have been a number of changes in the rental market in Dubai in recent months.
“However, there is good news for properties such as villas, as villa rental rates are expected to rise by 10-15% in the coming quarters.” “However, short-term rentals have decreased by 20-30% since the end of Expo 2020,” he said.
“For the time being, the majority of demand is coming from long-term renters, but that will change as the weather improves and more types of tenants return to the rental market.” The average occupancy rate for short-term rental properties is currently 65-70 percent, but this is expected to rise to 85-90 percent by the end of the year. Overall, we are optimistic about how the rest of the year will unfold for the Dubai rental market.”
