Dubai realty making a dramatic transition to a seller’s market?

Is Dubai’s realty sector making a dramatic transition to a seller’s market despite the lingering headwinds of the pandemic-induced economic slowdown?

Property pundits say they are witnessing such a shift with the ratio of buyer enquiries far outstripping the new supply.

“Ready properties of high-quality finishes that are kept well are in high demand and with so much competition from buyers at the moment, we are seeing undersupply issues leading to property price increases,” property consultancy company Allsopp & Allsopp says.

Dubai is in the midst of a seller's market with Allsopp & Allsopp’s current ratio of buyer enquiries to new property listings at 8:1, according to a real estate brokerage firm.

“Buyers don’t have a lot of options in the market and urgency is being shown as prices are on the increase and have been doing so for the last few months. They are signing on the dotted line a lot quicker than they previously would have through fear of missing out on a property they like,” an analyst at Allsopp & Allsopp said in a report.

“If you go back a year-and-a-half, we were trying to convince buyers to look at properties as Dubai was in a buyers’ market. They weren’t keen to view as there was so much supply and with the supply comes less urgency. If a property they like was sold, they would simply find another similar property. However, we are now seeing multiple buyers for one property as there is little supply therefore creating urgency, and at times, driving the price upwards by means of outbidding each other,” said Lewis Allsopp, CEO of Allsopp & Allsopp.

The company claims that it has a waiting list of buyers for certain properties--- meaning that those properties in high demand are selling before they reach property portals such as houza.com, a newly launched broker owned property portal.

“What we are seeing is that buyers are contacting agencies to find out what is becoming available. They are not waiting for properties to go live online. This is an encouraging sign for the Dubai property market and shows its maturity despite a global pandemic,” he said.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com