With property prices across Dubai registering a steep decline for the past three-and-a-half years since its mid-2014 peak, the off-plan sales are at a high, according to an industry expert.

The building boom in Dubai is being matched by a buying rush, stated Propertyfinder.ae in its report.

Investment in the real estate sector is on an upswing, as handovers were up 150 per cent in the first half of 2017, compared to the first half of 2016, it added.

Online behaviour is mirroring what’s happening on the ground. Looking at off-plan sales year-on-year shows that buying activity is heating up. In the first 10 months of this year, total investments already passed the full year of 2015 and 2016, said the report.

By the end of October, inquiries, leads, and sessions are up by 32 per cent year over year - consumer appetite is coming back.

By year end, analysts forecast an increase of 32 per cent compared to the previous year, according to a report released Sunday by Reidin.

“Prices have been falling for the past three and a half years since their mid-2014 peak, and are now at early 2013 levels,” remarked Lukman Hajje, the chief commercial officer of Propertyfinder Group. “Off-plan sales now account for nearly twice those in the ready space,” he added.
 
Hajje attributes this to an increase in competition from developers, which has resulted in aggressive low-deposit and post-handover payment schemes which are aimed at a larger pool of buyers, including ones who cannot afford to purchase in the secondary market due to the much larger deposits required.

Public sentiment is also that prices are or at close to the bottom of the cycle, and will increase in the lead up to Expo 2020. But these changing market conditions come with a warning.
 
"Consumers need to go in with their eyes wide open," remarked Hajje. “The rewards can be great. But there are risks. Particularly with the smaller developers,” he added.
 
With the rise of Dubai suburbia, communities catering to middle-income buyers are springing up with greater frequency. In particular, Jumeirah Village Circle and Sports City (the 5th and 8th most popular communities by search on propertyfinder.ae, respectively) are gaining in popularity from a purely investment point of view.
 
JVC is on a fast-track, with an enormous 40 per cent of buyers searching in the area. Dubai Sports City, also, is providing good value on newly built homes, stated Hajje.

As investor dollars pour in, the capital in the Dubai real estate market inevitably increases, he added.

According to him, the total value of sales traded in the residential market has increased by 27 per cent on an annualised basis, according to the Reidin report, signaling a return in investor interest, which at the current rate is forecast to exceed 2015 investment levels.
 
With demand coming back, and investor numbers higher than in 2015, the year the slump began, Dubai may be headed for its long-awaited rebound, he added.-TradeArabia News Service