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 A brief glance over the Dubai property market and its quickly becomes evident that there is a large discrepancy in the ratio of villas to apartments available for sale. Whilst there are numerous apartments on the market in Dubai, the same cannot be said for villas. The cause? Well this serious imbalance is a result of limited land to build on, combined the more profitable nature of apartments for developers. From a developer's point of view, it makes more sense to build upwards that it does to purchase large amounts of land and build villas.

How does this effect property buyers looking for a villa then? Well you can expect to pay more for a villa than you would for an apartment per square foot. Looking at it on this basis, back in 2006 villa prices per… Read Full Post

When you think about buying property in Dubai, most people limit their choices to villas or apartments.  While this is true for the most part, there has been a sudden increase in the number of town homes available on the market, which might be a good solution for families that want to live in a house, but don’t want the huge villa or the costs associated with a villa.

Choosing your property in Dubai

Most property investors are buying a property that meets all their standards, but is also a viable investment should they come to sell, and many people do.  This is a good reason to buy a town home, as they are still quite scarce even though their popularity is increasing.  Since a standard villa is much more common, not to mention the many apartment…

Dubai freehold property certainly isn’t just for residents of the United Arab Emirates; it is available to buy for anyone.  As such a popular tourist destination, buying a property in Dubai as an overseas investor may just be an excellent investment and a great holiday home for you.  For anyone that thinks this might be a good option, here are a few things you should know:

Mortgages are available

You can still get a mortgage on a property in Dubai even if you are not a resident, and you can sort out financial arrangements with a bank in your country of residence.  For ease in doing this, we do recommend fully checking to restrictions on mortgages, but several large multinational banks such as Barclays and HSBC offer mortgages here and they are all over…

We do dedicate a lot of time to telling you about the latest freehold homes that investors can buy; now it’s time to talk about commercial property.  Believe it or not, but there is almost as much commercial space on the Dubai property market to buy, as there is residential, and more often than not investors are looking to own space for their company, rather than to keep renting.

The Dubai real estate rental problem

Not just for accommodation, you know! The problem of ever-increasing rents has had just the same impact on leasing commercial space, and pushing office budgets up and up.  While this hasn’t been too much of an issue for multinational firms with billions to spend, this has hurt small business.  It is thought that office space in Dubai is now…

For anyone that finds the property market interesting and exciting, then a career in properties might be right for you.  Many people are moving into the Dubai real estate market each day as they see the potential gains of doing so, and this is available to anyone.  The market is easy to understand, as long as you know the rules and regulations of buying and selling property, and have an outgoing personality to make a sale.  Here are a few tips for anyone who seeks a future in the Dubai freehold property business as a real estate agent:

Know what property you are selling

So much property available on the market often means that people are deterred from moving into the property agent industry.  Don’t worry; once you have an idea about the basics, the…

Every resident of Dubai has one big complaint to make, not including the traffic of course, and that is the price of renting accommodation these days.  It seems like only yesterday that most expatriates were able to comfortably afford the costs of renting apartments and villas in Dubai; in fact, most families did live in huge villas.  Fast forward to the Dubai property boom and now rents are soaring beyond the reach of almost everyone.  It is common to see families moving out of their villas into apartments and even people leaving the country because rent eats up too much of their savings.  The primary reason for people living in Dubai is to save on high taxes back home, but if you are paying out the difference on accommodation that you don’t own, is it…

New property buyers are always going to encounter more trouble than seasoned property buyers do. Since the Dubai property market is new and always changing.

1. Which Dubai property developments should buyers consider for a first buy? There have been numerous issues with build quality and more persistently with construction delays. First time buyers should find out as much as they can about a project before putting a deposit down such as the terms of the contract, any problems that have been reported and if the project is still under construction, what the completion schedule is. If buyers are looking into a project that has faced delays, then perhaps another development is a better option.

2. Always read the fine print! We really cannot stress…

Anyone who lives in Dubai will tell you just how much prices have increased over the past 2 years or so. It does reduce the appeal of living in such a great place, but there are ways to keep your costs down by being wise and here are a few of them!

1. Ditch the pricey car you are driving. It’s no longer necessary for everyone to drive around in the most expensive cars that money can buy; the roads are usually in constant gridlock. No matter how fast your car is, it’s not going to help you avoid the many other cars that are stuck on the road just like you so save some money and buy a cheaper car.

2. Choose which district of Dubai you live in very carefully. This seems obvious but many people can save money just by living outside pricey districts…