Housing loans in Dubai are gushed in 2020 in comparison to the previous year, as the investors took advantage of the downfall of the real-estate prices and lower upfront costs, stated by an industry source.
Demand for the property was especially high during the former half of 2020, with pent-up demand both from domestic and foreign investors beginning to filter through the market, said Stuart Roe, the head of contacts at real-estate firm Allsopp & Allsopp.
The firm noticed an increase of 38 percent in mortgage transactions in the year 2020 when compared to the year 2019. The number of first-time buyers from Q1 2020 in comparison with the rest of the year also went up by 16 percent, a trend that’s more likely powered by lesser interest rates and higher loan-to-value ratio laid by the government.
The buyers of apartments and villas decreased dramatically during the global lockdown last year. The decrease in demand acquainted a huge slump in both property prices and rents, and also those who still got high incomes were captivated into the market for the first time.
“People who had no problems with salary were finding themselves in a position to buy, and with property prices being as low as they were in 2008, they were making the first step onto the property ladder,” Stuart wrote.
“For example, in 2019, a property could be worth 2.5 million dirhams with a down payment of 33 percent at 800,000 dirhams, but in 2020, the same property could be purchased for 1.9 million dirhams with a down payment of 22 percent, at 400,000. Not only was it a lot cheaper, but clients were also paying less in upfront costs,” noted Stuart.
Secondary Market
As per the market reports, property buyers were parting up residential units in the secondary segment. Many were fascinated by the idea of owning a home or villa along with the private outdoor space, as social distancing and remote working became normal life.
“Since the pandemic started, many started to spend more time in their homes. This prompted a new trend and people started to want more space and outside spaces for their family. People also started to migrate away from densely populated centers and towards the suburbs,” Lynnette Abad, director of research and data for Property Finder, said earlier.
Industry experts, however, said it would in all possibilities take a year before the market would regain its level as it was before the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Roe, “Dubai’s real estate market tends to follow a “herd mentality” and that investors at the moment feel safer parking their savings in options that are tangible.”
“Once one person buys and talks about it, they get other people thinking the same and leading to them buying a property themselves,” he noted.
“When it comes to investing money, with the pandemic still very much around, people feel safer putting their money into bricks and mortar – something they can benefit from by living in or renting out but ultimately, something they can physically see and touch,” Roe noted.
He continued that there are still a lot of potential buyers out there that are still waiting for the prices to hit the floor.
“I always tell my client not to wait, but instead, to buy when the market is on the way down. If they wait, they’ll miss the bottom and before they know it, the prices are heading back up. We have seen this in certain communities in Dubai towards the end of the year,” he said.
Analysts said there will be additional declines in rent and sales prices this year, as the market has yet to reach the bottom.