Sharjah Real Estate most stable in the region

Having recently opened up its real estate market to foreign investors who can now own properties in the emirate for up to 100 years, Sharjah real estate is set to witness an unprecedented boom. The Tilal City project, which was welcomed by investors and marked the beginning of a new era in Sharjah real estate has seen immense progress and demand. Launched in November 2014 as a joint venture between Sharjah Asset Management and Eskan Real Estate Development, the flagship Sharjah property project covers an area of 25 million square feet along Emirates Road. It is the first model community of its kind in the city. In addition, it is also the first development available on a 100-year leasehold basis for all nationalities.

Soon, Tilal Properties will also unveil the Tilal Mall project. This development is expected to add to the retail appeal of the emirate and cater to the shopping needs of residents in Tilal City and neighbouring areas.

More importantly, as a burgeoning real estate destination, Sharjah was least hit by the economic downturn of 2008. Demand, supply and prices of Sharjah properties continue to remain stable and affordable, thereby gaining the confidence of investors and representing a safety valve for the UAE real estate market. Moreover, the market is also being well regulated to guarantee the rights of all the parties involved, including developers and investors. For instance, the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department, recently announced its plans to launch a new service that allows customers to enter the data of initial contracts for real estate deals via smartphones. This will make the data available in the circuit systems and make it easier for dealers to complete the final procedures when they go to the Department.

Aside from Tilal City, Sharjah real estate is set to welcome a series of new real estate projects, including industrial, commercial and residential ones, such as the Sharjah Expo Hotel, which when launched, is expected to become an architectural and iconic masterpiece and a transformative hotel stay experience for business and leisure travellers. Given its strategic location, the hotel will be ideal for corporate executives visiting the various exhibitions held at Expo Centre Sharjah.

Sharjah Holding is another landmark initiative and the result of a strategic partnership between the Government of Sharjah and Majid Al Futtaim Properties. Matajer, a neighbourhood retail concept anchored by a leading supermarket chain and featuring a range of premium retail, food and beverage brands and Al Zahia, an integrated residential community featuring a range of villas, apartments and commercial units have been launched as part of this initiative with ongoing expansion plans slated for the year. Explore the latest Sharjah properties on bhomes.com. Click here to get started.

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Dubai property rents are stable no sharp increases

Having observed the limited rent rise in freehold communities, it is expected that rents are moving towards stability. A significant difference is observed in total rent rise for second quarter and first three months of this year. Only 1.4% rises are observed as compared to 1.5% during initial months. Tenants become well aware with their rights and rent cap legislations implemented by RERA for yearly increase in property rents. Tenants are now aligning their decisions with the legal compensation forums under the Dubai Land Department.

Landlords are experiencing tough resistance on increasing rents from tenants whether existing, or new one. The upper end of rental market is showing low growth. Although rents are showing noticeable reduction of growth rate, overall property rents in Dubai maintain a positive growth which is expected to persist. Furthermore, the mid and lower end of freehold rental market also shows some decrease in rent rises. Fresh supply of newly residential projects in locations like Dubai Silicon Oasis, Sports City and Motor City are also believed to be the reason of slow rises in rents.

During the past 12 months property rents were increased to 20% and it is observed that such huge rises always resulted by pause duration. This is what currently rental market in Dubai is experiencing, the slower growth in rent rate with falling rent across Dubai. Another reason for this slow rental growth is the hot summer in Dubai. During the summer, landlords started showing flexible attitude on price to prevent their property being vacant.

Despite all this slow growth in rent rate and fall in rent rate, if renting property in Dubai is still expensive for tenants, they can relocate to Sharjha, the affordable rents attract Dubai based workers to its neighboring emirate. Whereas limited supply of property units in Sharjah increases the rents during second quarter by 5.7% in second quarter after the steep rise of 10.8% in first quarter. In addition to individual home seekers, it is also observed that several business owners from Dubai are also looking for bulk quantity accommodation units for their staff in the emirate. The rise in demand for rental property in Sharjah dragged tenant attention to know the legal system overseeing rental disputes. Now tenants don’t agree to accept further increases in rents. It has observed that rising rents increase the number of rental disputes filed at Sharjah Municipality.

The increased awareness among tenants allows them to object to any proposed rises in the rent at the end of their tenancy contracts.  It is also expected that in addition to stabilise the property rent tenants also prefer staying in their current accommodation to save their money.

The stability of rents across Dubai also benefited buy-to let- investment sectors Moreover, RERA rental index upgrades and Tenancy registration system also lure investors showing them proper legal infrastructure to support investors.

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