The worst is over and it is time to move on up. At least as far as Dubai residents go.

According to numbers released by real estate portal propertyfinder.ae, residents are no longer searching for Dubai apartments in the sub-Dh50,000 per annum rental bracket. The preference now is for an upgrade.

Properties being leased between Dh80,000 and Dh100,000 per annum make up the maximum searches on its website for the first quarter of this year.

“In first quarter of 2011 the most popular searches on the site were for properties up to Dh50,000.

“Throughout 2011, we saw that increase to the Dh60,000-Dh80,000 price bracket. Now, 2012 shows continued increases with the most popular price bracket now Dh80,000-Dh100,000,” the websites 2012 first quarter report stated.

Dubai Marina continues to remain the most sought after location in terms of rent and buy, followed by Palm Jumeirah and Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

“Dubai Marina tops the list with 19.68 per cent of the total buy searches and 18.26 per cent of total rent searches,” the report said.

Two-bedroom apartments remain the most sought after, followed by one- and three-bedroom units.

Discovery Gardens has taken significant year-on-year drop and has now slipped out of the top-20 buy list due to lack of interest from investors.

In Q1, 2011, the affordable community held the ninth spot. “There have been a number of new developments completed that offer an alternative to Discovery Gardens.

“Proximity to the Metro and other amenities will play a big role in a location’s desirability,” the report said.

The top price band for property search across the UAE on the website was between Dh500,000 and Dh1 million.

The search results, according to Propertyfinder.ae, are stemming from over one million visits, eight million property page views and 125,000 live properties.

Early this week, Jones Lang LaSalle said the Dubai residential real estate market appears to have bottomed out, as prices are now at rates similar to early 2008 levels.

In March, Knight Frank said real estate in Dubai had not only stabilised, but prices increased by 2.3 per cent on average in the last quarter of 2011.