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29 March 2024

Which Dubai office areas get double-digit rent hikes?

Last year, a newly-developed parking scheme was implemented in Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City and Dubai Knowledge Village. (File)

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

Six out of the 13 business districts tracked by Knight Frank, a UK-based real estate consultancy, have witnessed rents rising by double digit in the year to September 2014.

The districts that saw annual increases were Business Bay (35 per cent), Tecom C (31 per cent), Dubai Festival City (26 per cent), Emaar Square/Downtown (23 per cent), Bur Dubai (13 per cent) and Jumeirah Lakes Towers (10 per cent).

However, rents in Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City, Knowledge Village and Deira saw no change, the UK-based consultancy said.

Overall, prime rents rose by two per cent quarter-on-quarter and were up 23 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2013.

Although new enquiries for office space picked up in the third quarter, these did not fully convert into actual demand.

Office vacancy rate for held steady at 18 per cent for the second consecutive quarter in Q3 2014, but was down from 20% same period last year.

By the end of Q3 2014, total office stock reached 7.5 million square metres in Dubai with Knight Frank analysis showing the amount of office floor space will increase to 8 million square metres and 8.2 million square metres in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Earlier this year, JLL, a global real estate consultancy, put Dubai third on the list of the world's 20 most dynamic cities following the Expo 2020 win, referring the emirate to being an "elite city that wields clear economic might on the global stage."

Read: Dubai 3rd among world's most dynamic cities

In its third quarter report, JLL said that Dubai continued to see a two-tier office market with prime central business district (CBD) rents, which have remained stable, expected to increase as demand remains strong for Grade A office space.

Prime CBD rents rose to Dh1,860 per square metre in third quarter 2014 from Dh1,830 per square metre reported in the same period last year.

Rents in secondary locations are expected to remain under downward pressure as more Grade A office space enters the market by 2015, the consultancy stated.