Dubai realty trends: High villa sales in suburban areas, rise in rent-to-own buyers
Lynnette Abad, Director of Data & Research, Property Finder, said, “As new affordable villa communities are getting completed and being handed over, we have seen a migration to these communities from popular areas such as Dubai Marina and Emirates Hills. Families are choosing to live a little further out in the suburban areas of Dubai in order to gain access to a larger property with outside space.”
According to Property Finder, established villa communities in Dubai saw a decline in prices compared to the first half of last year: Damac Hills (−8.2 percent), Emirates Hills (−6.6 percent), Green Community Motor City (−5.4 percent), Dubai Silicon Oasis (−5.2 percent), Al Furjan and The Villa (−5.1 percent). “Damac Hills saw one of the most declining sales prices because of a lot of empty available ready stock,” Abad said.
As inventories across new property markets rise, developers are doling out ever more generous payment plans and going big with post-handover payments and offering rent-to-own (RTO) schemes, which are gaining traction in some market segments. “We have also seen a large influx of renters converting to home buyers, especially in these new villa communities,” Abad noted.