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28 March 2024

Summer, Ramadan in Dubai: Best time to bargain, save on rent

Real estate agents say the 25 per cent downpayment clause has impacted sale of completed properties in the affordable communities. (Dennis B Mallari)

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

Summer is the best time for renters to lease apartments in Dubai, according to real estate agents.

“It is a good time as you can find good bargains. Most of people travel out of the country and are very less likely to look for a place until they are back from holidays,” Parvees Gafur, Chief Executive Officer, PropSquare Real Estate, told ‘Emirates24|7’.

“So for owners, the chances of getting a tenant are less likely and so some do bring their rates down to attract new tenants.”

Mario Volpi, Managing Director, Ocean View Real Estate, states traditionally the market does slow down over the summer.

“This year we have the added pressure of Ramadan, which is likely to commence in 18 days’ time. All this could help renters grab a ‘bargain’. Of course, a good deal could take on many forms not just the actual rent. Landlords may be more flexible on the number of cheques or take a deposit but allow the rental contract to start later etc.”

He, however, adds that the job market does not necessarily take a dip in the summer so in theory there could also be new tenants looking to rent which will take up whatever slack there may be in the market.

“As a rule of thumb these always is a bit of a lull so the tenant should get a better deal in theory. I guess it all depends where the renter is looking in the first place.”

Armin Jalili, Sales Director, Unique Properties Broker, also echoes the same view.

“It is a good time to rent a property during summer as there are not many people chasing any particular property. One can bargain with landlords who do not wish to keep their units vacant for a few months.”

Rents fall in April

In fact, a new report by Reidin.com has revealed that rentals for apartments had slipped at a faster pace than villas in April compared to March.

Apartment rents fell 0.69 per cent compared with a 0.20 per cent fall in March, while villa rentals declined 0.25 per cent compared with a 0.25 per cent drop in March. Overall, rentals were 0.67 per cent down, but were up 2.9 per cent annually.

This website had reported earlier that rents for apartments had remained stable in the second update of Real Estate Regulatory Agency’s (Rera) rent index.

A comparison done by this website of the first update of 2015 with the last update of 2014 had shown a rental increase of six to 25 per cent across some of the master communities.

The rent index is updated every four months, according to Rera.

In January 2015, JLL, a real estate consultancy, predicted that residents could expect rental declines this year, with rent-free periods being offered to tenants as the emirate was expected to receive over 22,000 new residential units. Knight Frank, a UK-based consultancy, also opined residential rents were likely to fall by five per cent.