Dubai house prices fell by 4.05% y-o-y in 2019

In Dubai, residential property prices fell by 4.05% during 2019, following y-o-y declines of 8.22% in 2018, 5.23% in 2017, 2.86% in 2016, and 14.1% in 2015, amidst weak economic growth, low investor sentiment, and an oversupply of housing. During the latest quarter, house prices in Dubai dropped 1.5% q-o-q.

Dubai's property market has been one of the world's most volatile. Dubai saw one of the world's worst housing crashes from Q3 2008 to Q3 2011 with house prices plunging by 53%. The housing market started to recover by end-2011 with prices rising by a total of 67% until Q4 2014. The housing market has been depressed since.

House prices in Dubai are expected to remain subdued this year, mainly due to huge supply.In 2019, about 56,000 units were added to Dubai’s total residential stock, bringing the total supply to 575,000 units, according to JLL MENA. In Abu Dhabi, around 8,000 units were added, bringing the total stock to 265,000 units. 

Several other factors have affected the market. The Federal Mortgage Cap, introduced in 2013, has slowed the pace of residential value appreciation in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In addition, the Dubai Land Department recently doubled property registration fees from 2% to 4% to dampen property demand. Finally the implementation of the value added tax (VAT), which became effective in January 2018, is another factor. The 5% VAT only applies to home sales after three years of the project´s completion. Sales within three years of completion have 0% VAT rate.

Rents, rental yields: good yields in Dubai at 5.19%

Dubai apartments are costly at around $5,918 per sq. m. 

UAE: typical city centre apartment buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
	Buying price	Rate per month	Yield
Dubai	$710,160	$3,070	5.19%

Recent news. UAE’s overall economy grew by 2.9% in 2019 from a year earlier, an improvement from the prior year’s 1.7% expansion, according to the Central Bank of UAE. The country’s hydrocarbon sector expanded by 7.6% last year while the non-hydrocarbon sector grew by 1.1%. The IMF projects the economy to grow by 2.5% this year and by another 2.7% in 2021.