Abu Dhabi's residential property market too witnessed a turbulent 2020 as other global markets. It slightly declined during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic but normalised fairly quickly bringing stability to the industry, according to Property Finder, a leading property portal in the UAE. 

 

It was a turbulent year in 2020 for all real estate markets but as far as asking prices in both the rental and sales for the capital city, they remained quite normal, it stated. 

 

"2020 was quite interesting to say the least overall. When it comes to residential real estate, we at Property Finder predicted pent up demand from the beginning. Abu Dhabi trends saw people migrating to larger properties and villa/townhouses with outdoor space. This has been a trend we have seen around the world," remarked Lynnette Abad, the Director of Research & Data at Property Finder. 

 

According to Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder group, that looks at listing, search and lead data for the city some interesting trends have emerged.

 

Listings for apartments for sale were dominated by Al Reem Island (44.7%) followed by Al Raha Beach (19.4%), Saadiyat Island (12.3%), Yas Island (11.7%) and Al Reef (5.1%). 29.3% of the listings were for 1-bedroom apartments, 35.65% for 2-bedroom apartments and 21.25% for 3-bedroom apartments, said the Emirati portal. 

 

For Villas/Townhouses for sale, the dominating communities were Saadiyat Island (26.7%), Yas Island (23.2%), Al Reef (11.8%), Al Raha Gardens (7.3%) and Al Salam Street (3.3%). 21.34% of the listings were for 3-bedroom units, 29.19% for 4-bedroom units and 39.74% for 4+bedroom villa/townhouses, it stated. 

 

According to Property Finder, Reem Island dominated the consumer searches in Abu Dhabi for apartments for sale by having 41.8% of all apartment searches followed by Al Raha Beach (15.7%), Saadiyat Island (11.1%), Yas Island (8.7%) and Al Reef (5.1%). 

 

Of this, 14.93% of all the searches for apartments were focused on 1-bedroom apartments, 19.83% for 2-bedroom apartments and 13.39% for 3-bedroom apartments. Only 6.08% were looking for 4 or 4+ bedroom apartments in the capital. The top keywords consumers were looking for when searching for apartments in Abu Dhabi were balcony, seaview, furnished, beach and park. 

 

For villas/townhouses for sale, the dominating communities’ consumers were searching for were Saadiyat Island (18.5%), Yas Island (17.9%), Al Reef (9.9%), Khalifa City (8.1%) and Mohamed Bin Zayed City (5.2%). 10.14% of consumers were searching for 3-bedroom units, 11.84% for 4-bedroom units and 14.97% for 4+ bedroom villa/townhouses. The top keywords consumers were looking for when searching for villas/townhouses in Abu Dhabi were pool, beachfront, seaview, furnished and new.

 

On the rental listing trends, Abad said the apartment sector was dominated by Al Reem Island (25.4%) followed by Khalifa City (20.1%), Al Raha Beach (9.4%), Corniche Road (5.6%) and Saadiyat Island (4.7%). 20.35% of these rental listings were for studio units, 30.25% for 1-bedroom apartments, 27.65% for 2-bedroom apartments and 17.27% for 3-bedroom apartments, she stated. 

 

For villas/townhouses for sale, the dominating communities were Khalifa City (17.6%), Mohamed Bin Zayed City (10.6%), Al Reef (9.4%), Saadiyat Island (7.3%) and Al Raha Gardens (6.1%). 17.45% of these listings were for 3-bedroom units, 26.98% for 4-bedroom units and 46.57% for 4+bedroom villa/townhouses, she added. 

 

On the rental search trends, Abad pointed out that Reem Island dominated the consumer searches in Abu Dhabi for apartments for rent by having 21.1% of all apartment searches followed by Khalifa City (8.5%), Al Raha Beach (8.1%), Corniche road (8%) and Al Khalidiya (6.7%). 

 

Of this, 15.87% of all searches were for 1-bedrooms, 18.3% for 2-bedroom apartments and 11.92% for 3-bedroom apartments. Only 4.24% were looking for 4 or 4+ bedroom apartments in the capital. 

The top keywords consumers were looking for when searching for apartments for rent in Abu Dhabi were balcony, seaview, furnished, new and park, explained Abad. 

 

"For villas/townhouses for sale, the dominating communities’ consumers were searching for were Khalifa City (17.5%), Mohamed Bin Zayed City (9.6%), Al Reef (6.7%), Saadiyat Island (6.1%) and Yas Island (5%)," sad the senior official. 

 

"12.51% of all searches were for 3-bedroom units, 11.79% for 4-bedroom units and 12.63% for 4+ bedroom villa/townhouses. The top keywords consumers were looking for when searching for villas/townhouses for rent in Abu Dhabi were pool, new, garden, beach and balcony," she added.

-TradeArabia News Service