2017 Real Estate Report: Sharjah And Northern Emirates
Based on the insights we have gathered and after studying the trends in the UAE real estate market, we at Bayut.com have put together a comprehensive real estate market report for renting and buying properties in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates. The Sharjah real estate market remains a popular choice for affordable living in the UAE, while the real estate market in the Northern Emirates is showing a surge in off-plan developments.
Sharjah Real Estate market Report for 2017
Sharjah, like most of the UAE, showed a decline in prices for both property investments and rentals. However, it remained a popular destination for affordable living, particularly for families in the UAE. Here is a detailed real estate market report of how properties in Sharjah fared in 2017.
prices to rent Apartments in Sharjah went down
Rent for apartments in Sharjah decreased for the most part last year with slight increases in a few select localities. Al Nahda remained the most popular neighbourhood to rent apartments in Sharjah with 1-bedroom apartment rents staying at a steady AED 37k. The rent for 2-bedroom apartments in the area declined significantly by 18% at AED 45k. In Al Nahda last year 3-bedroom apartments became 11% more affordable at AED 76k.
Coming a close second is Muwaileh, the cheapest of the popular areas to rent apartments in Sharjah. 1 BHK and 3 BHK properties in the area commanded a steady rent (AED 30k and AED 60k, respectively). However, 2 BHK rents increased slightly by 1% to AED 44k a year.
Amongst the other popular locations, only Al Taawun showed an increase in rent with 2-bedroom rents going up by 2% at AED 51k. Al Majaz and Al Khan stayed in tune with the overall trend with decreased rents for 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom flats in both locations. It’s hard to comment on 3-bedroom apartments in Al Majaz because of a large number of off-plan listings in the area.
Within Al Nahda, the most popular locality was Al Nahda 2 for renting apartments. The area is a favourite among tenants, especially families, and is bustling with numerous residential buildings for renters to choose from.
For those wishing to rent villas in Sharjah, it’s interesting to note that Al Gharayen was the top choice among Bayut.com users, followed by the usual suspects – Al Jazzet, Mayasaloon, Al Rahamaniah and Al Shahab.
Price to buy property in Sharjah also Dropped in 2017
The price for buying properties in Sharjah dropped in most areas. Al Nahda was also the most popular area in the Sharjah real estate market to buy apartments. The average price to buy 2-bedroom flats here dropped by 6% to AED 580k. The cost of 1-bedroom and 3-bedroom apartments were at an average of AED 495k and AED 700k, respectively. But, because there was a large number of off-plan listings in 2017, these drops cannot be considered truly representative.
Al Khan was the second most popular choice for buying apartments in the Sharjah real estate market in 2017. Average prices of 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments are at AED 467k, AED 824k and AED 1.05M, respectively. This area too saw a drop in prices across all three segments.
The next most popular area to buy properties in Sharjah, Al Majaz, showed declining asking prices of 2 and 3-bedroom units at AED 681k and AED 1.07M, respectively. However, the price for 1 BHK units increased by 5% to AED 500k. Muwaileh had contrasting stats to report. Asking prices for 1 BHK units declined by 16.7% to AED 551k and 2 BHK units increased by AED 954k. The prices for 3-bedrooms are difficult to comment on because of the off-plan listings. The area showing a stable outlook was Al Mamzar, with the average selling price of 1 and 3 BHK units remaining at AED 47k and AED 1M, respectively. The price of 2-bedroom apartments decreased by nearly 16% to AED 715k.
Muwaileh was the most popular area in the Sharjah real estate market for villas, followed by Al Gharayen, Al Tai, Al Rahmaniah and Al Ramla.
Northern Emirates Real Estate Market Report 2017
Based on the end-of-year data gathered from Bayut.com users, here are some interesting findings from the real estate market report for the Northern Emirates. Ajman emerged as the most popular location for both property investors and renters in 2017. Ajman also trumped the other Northern Emirates and emerged as the cheapest emirate to rent and buy property. Much like the rest of the UAE, prices decreased for both renters and buyers in 2017.
Ajman: the Most Popular choice for tenants
Naemiyah was the most popular area in Ajman to rent apartments. Average rents dropped here for studios by a significant 13% at AED 20k. 1 and 2-bedroom apartments too saw a decrease of 3.5% and 12% at AED 27k and AED 35k respectively. The next favourite, Al Rashidiya, also reported consistent depreciation in rental costs with studios, in particular, seeing a 10% dip at AED 22k. The rental for 1 and 2-bedroom units here are in the same price range as Naemiyah at AED 30k and AED 39k, respectively.
The cheapest areas to rent in the Northern Emirates in 2017 for studio apartments were Al Jurf and Al Rumaila in Ajman at AED 18k. However, Al Rumaila’s figures cannot be considered truly representative due to a large number of off-plan listings. Al Jurf also had the cheapest 1-bedroom properties along with Emirates City at AED 26k. Emirates City Ajman also had the cheapest 2-bedroom apartments for rent at AED 32k, which is slightly less compared to Al Jurf at AED 33k. But overall, Al Jurf was certainly the cheapest area to rent in the emirate.
Amongst the popular areas to rent in the Northern Emirates, Al Hamra Village in Ras Al Khaimah was the costliest option for renters. Studios were priced at AED 30k, 1 BHK at AED 44k and 2 BHK at AED 63k. Al Hamra Village also showed significant stability in rental prices in comparison to 2016. Studios remained stable, while 1 and 2-bedroom rents decreased marginally (2.2% and 0.4% respectively).
Ajman Popular For Renting Villas Too
Al Mowaihat in Ajman was the most popular choice to rent villas in the Northern Emirates. Villa rentals across Ajman are difficult to comment on because of a large volume of off-plan listings. However, the 4 and 5-bedroom villas here showed conflicting changes with 4-bedrooms dropping by 16% and 5-bedrooms increasing by 5%. The most affordable area for renting villas in the Northern Emirates was Ajman Uptown, with 3 and 4-bedroom properties at AED 45k and AED 65k, respectively.
Apartment Asking Price Dropped in the Northern Emirates
It was good news for investors buying properties with prices dropping across the popular areas. Amongst the Northern Emirates, most users seemed interested to buy property in Ajman. Emirates City, Ajman tops the list with studios at AED 202k, 1 BHK units at AED 268k and 2 BHK units at AED 357k. The only areas on the list outside of Ajman were the Al Marjan Island and Al Hamra Village in Ras Al Khaimah. Al Marjan Island incidentally is also the most expensive area to buy apartments. Studios here are going for AED 394k, 1-bedrooms at AED 720k and 2-bedrooms at AED 1M. That’s more than double the cost in Emirates City Ajman!
Most of Bayut.com users were looking at buying villas in Al Mowaihat, Al Rawda and Al Zahra in Ajman. Since all three have a significant number of off-plan listings, the prices may not be a reflection of the actual market. We can, however, tell you that asking prices for 5-bedroom villas in Al Rawda and Al Zahra have gone up by 10% and 7% respectively. In Al Mowaihat, data shows a 9% drop for 5-bedroom villas at AED 1.4M.
emirates city, Ajman: most popular to buy off-plan properties
Interest among buyers searching for off-plan developments in 2017 was highest in Emirates City, Ajman. This has caused significant drops in asking prices in certain areas of the Northern Emirates, including Emirates City.
The Ajman Corniche Residence in Al Rumaila is the most searched off-plan property by Bayut.com users in the region. This is followed closely by Mina Al RAK in Ras Al Khaimah. The trend in 2017 indicates that investors are now becoming more open to buying properties in off-plan developments. The competitive pricing and the quality of life such developments offer are good reasons for the high interest among potential investors.
Disclaimer: The above report is based on prices advertised by real estate agencies on behalf of their clients Bayut.com, and not representative of actual real estate transactions conducted in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates.
IN 2018…
The CEO of Bayut.com, Haider Ali Khan, said: “At Bayut.com, our goal is to place extensive data-based reports and area guides at the fore of all UAE house hunting intelligence to help renters and investors alike make sound real estate decisions.”
Khan continued: “As more and more off-plan projects are completed in 2018, handed over and put on the secondary market, we can expect prices continuing to attract investors while landlords will have to stay competitive to entice potential tenants. In the long run, as the market and the broader economy move along a trajectory of diversification and maturity, the opportunity for developers and sellers to capitalise on their investment remains strong.”
Wondering how investors and renters fared in the Abu Dhabi real estate market? Read our Abu Dhabi real estate market report 2017 for a quick snapshot of the capital and compare with the Dubai market for 2017 too, to get all the inside information on the ever-evolving UAE real estate market.
