Prices on average decrease across the Abu Dhabi real estate market – Bayut Q3 report
The Abu Dhabi property market has seen prices fall on average for both apartments and villas with significant changes in property prices for a few areas in the emirate from Q2, 2018 according to Bayut’s Q3 market report for Abu Dhabi.
Rentals highlights:
- Prices have decreased on average for apartment rentals in the capital but have been modest for the most part. The most significant change was for 1-beds in Khalifa City A where average prices fell by 73% from AED 55k to AED 48k, followed by a 9.38% decrease for studios from AED 32k to AED 29k. 1-beds in Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) City also saw a 9.09% decrease from AED 44k to AED 40k. The only other substantial increase has been 9.09% for 1-beds in Al Muroor.
- The steepest price falls were for 5-bed villa rentals in Al Karamah where they fell by 29% from AED 210k to AED 180k, followed by 3-beds in Mohammed Bin Zayed City with a 13.64%.
- Substantial increases for villa rentals were a 4% for 3-beds in Khalifa City A where the average prices went up from AED 130k to AED 150k, and 10.71% for 5-beds in Khalifa City B.
Sales highlights:
- Decreases were modest overall, with the largest being 62% for studio apartments in Al Reem Island where the prices went from AED 635k to AED AED 580k. This was followed by 8.24% decrease for 1-beds in Saadiyat Island.
- Villa sale prices remained more or less stable staying between 0-5%, with a significant change seen for 5-bed villas in Saadiyat Island, where the prices fell by 35% from AED 9.2M to AED 8.8M.
Apartment rentals
Mohammed Bin Zayed City is the most popular for apartment rentals in Q3 2018 where current prices for studios is AED 25k, 1-beds is AED 40k, and 2-beds are AED 58k. The only significant decreases were in Al Khalidiya where prices are now AED 60k for 1-beds and AED 85k for 2-beds. The other top 10 areas saw a decrease of 1-9%.
Villa rentals
Villas in Abu Dhabi saw an increase in rental prices across the board in the top area of Khalifa City A where the prices are now AED 150k for 3-beds, AED 170k for 4-beds and AED 175k for 5-beds. The prices for 5-beds in Khalifa City B increased from AED 130k to AED 155k. Prices in other areas, however, remained stable, with the exception of Mohammed Bin Zayed City where prices for 3-beds fell to AED 95k from AED 110k.
Apartment sales
The prices overall for all the areas remained unchanged with the exception of Al Reem Island and Saadiyat Island where prices for both fell by less than 8%. Al Reem Island remained the most popular with prices for studios, 1, and 2-beds going for AED 580k, AED 950k and AED 1.5M respectively.
Villa sales
Al Reef which is the most popular area only saw a decrease of 2.1% for sale prices of 4-beds and 4.1% for 5-beds where the prices are now AED 2.13M from AED 2.17M and AED 2.35M AED 2.45M respectively, while prices for 3-beds remained stable at AED 1.6M.
The prices of 5-bed units in Saadiyat Island which saw a price decrease of 4.3% are now at AED 8.8M from AED 9.2M, while prices 3 and 4-beds remain stable at AED 5.5M and AED 6.9M
Popular sub-communities for apartments and villas
There were clear favorites among Bayut users when it came to sub-communities within the top 10 locations for buying and renting properties in Abu Dhabi.
For apartment rentals in MBZ City Mohamed Bin Zayed Centre was the most popular with 41.21% of searches and Sama Tower in Electra Street took the lion’s share with 66%. For apartment sales, the most popular sub-community in Al Reem Island is Marina Square taking up 40% of searches, while Al Khaleej Village in Al Ghadeer was the most popular with 61.77%.
With 68.4% of searches, Villa Compound in Khalifa City A took the top spot for villa rentals. For villa sales, Saadiyat Beach raked in the most searches with 66.7% for Saadiyat Island followed by Yasmina in Al Raha Gardens which accounted for 52%.
Popular off-plan projects
When it comes to investing in off-plan in Abu Dhabi, the most popular locations are Yas Island, Saadiyat Island, Al Reem Island, Al Raha Beach and Al Samha.
Within Yas Island, the Ansam project was the most searched for at 39% and in Saadiyat Island, the top spot went to Jawaher Saadiyat which also accounted for 39% of the searches.
Q4 forecast
Haider Ali Khan, CEO of Bayut, said: “Abu Dhabi has followed suit with the Dubai property market and the price trends in the capital suggest a stabilization of prices, which is apparent from the less exaggerated changes since the last quarter. It’s refreshing to see sales picking in certain areas of the capital showing investor confidence in the emirate.”
Disclaimer: The above report is based on prices advertised by real estate agencies on behalf of their clients on Bayut.com, and not representative of actual real estate transactions conducted in Abu Dhabi.
