More lease deals show landlords willing to cut their asking rates

The new rental contracts as well as renewals come at higher lease rates, but more landlords are now not getting their asking prices. And willing to negotiate a rental agreement at a lower sum.

This trend is starting to show up more forcefully in recent leasing deals, and across communities and popular residential locations in Dubai. If the trend persists through the final four months of 2023, it would mean that after three years of high-powered growth, rents in Dubai are starting to stabilize.

Even then, that still represents relief for Dubai’s growing resident base, with many of them having had to shell out between 10-30 % more as rent than what they would have paid in 2019-20. And for the city’s new residents too, any leveling off on what they have to pay as rent would come as a big break as they settle down into their new homes in towers and communities.

This is what Asteco, the property services firm, has to say about rental trends:
“There are signs that they may be reaching a ceiling. One such indicator is the difference between listing (rental prices) and (actual) contracted rates, as recorded by the Dubai Land Department.”

“According to the data, apartment and villa units are often renting at the lower end of the (asking) range, despite the fact that they are not advertised as such.”

In other words, landlords are being realistic enough about what they should reasonably be expecting.
Some industry sources had been saying that further turbo-charged growth in rentals would have meant the property market overheating.