Dubai house prices up but oversupply looms

Published 10th May 2010

The completion of a “significant” number of new homes in Dubai later year will further pressure prices that rose 2% in the first quarter, Colliers International said.

Colliers estimates that 41,000 residential units will enter the market by the end of 2010, mostly in the low- to mid-income segments. House prices in the first quarter were on par with 2007 levels, rising on average to 1,061 dirhams ($289) a square foot from 1,037 dirhams a year earlier, Colliers said in an e-mailed report today.

“There will be significant oversupply in the market by the end of the year, so it is anticipated the index will experience fluctuations in value going forward,” Colliers’ regional Director Ian Albert said in the report. “Demand is not expected to match the growth in supply, creating downward pressure on property prices,” according to the document.

Dubai’s property prices have slumped more than 50 percent since their peak in mid-2008 as the financial crisis forced companies to dismiss workers. The market’s collapse followed a construction boom that created thousands of homes just as demand began to evaporate.

Source: ' Property Week '

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