Dubai Q2 house prices fall 9%, but decline rate slows

House prices in Dubai, hammered by a property downturn amid the global financial crisis, fell 9 per cent in the second quarter from the previous one as the pace of decline slowed, Colliers International said on Monday.

Prices in the Gulf emirate had dropped 41 per cent from the fourth quarter to the first quarter.

Market transactions in the second quarter rose 50 per cent over the first quarter due to increased financing options for buyers, mainly for completed or nearly completed properties.

But tighter mortgages and loans rules, expatriate job security fears, and concerns about project delays still hamper the market's recovery, Colliers said.

Prices will fall a further 20 per cent in the second half of the year, a Reuters poll showed in June.

Year-on-year, prices fell 48 per cent in the second quarter, putting property prices back at the same levels as the second quarter of 2007. Prices are off 50 per cent from their peak in the third quarter of last year.

 

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