Sharp Decline in Dubai Real Estate Deals

Dubai real estate transactions appeared to drop sharply in the first quarter of the year according to data released late Saturday, Reuters reported. The Dubai Land Department said that real estate transactions totaled 58 billion dirhams ($15.78 billion) for the three months to the end of March. While the DLD did not release comparative figures, the figure represents a 25% fall from the 77 billion dirhams of transactions recorded in the same period a year earlier, according to data released at the time. The number of transactions also fell to 13,759 from around 20,000 last year. Property prices in Dubai have been falling for the past three years as lower oil prices impacted economic growth, as the steady release of new residential developments has seen supply increase. Cavendish Maxwell, a real estate surveyor in Dubai, last week said that average residential property prices dropped 2% year-on-year during the three months to the end of March, with the drop in prices particularly pronounced in areas such as Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Beach Residence and Dubai Silicon Oasis.