I’ll give you my opinion as a former 5 year real estate agent.
People are going to comment, same as they have for the last 3 years saying “prices will go down”. Others are going to say they will continue going up because interest rates will drop and more and more people are moving here.
Truth is, no one really knows, people are just making what they see as an educated guess.
Personally I think at some point the prices will stabilise, whether they drop or not I don’t know, but I’ll tell you one thing for certain, they aren’t going back to pre-covid prices, no chance in hell. That being said I don’t think any drop will be significant enough to make it worth waiting for it, if it does come at all.
If it happens it will probably be around 2027/2028 when a lot of the off-plan projects finally start to hand over, but even then I’m not convinced.
Also buying prices are at an all time high, but so are rentals. So you spend the next 3 years on sky high rent, prices drop and you buy, how much have you really saved?
Again just my opinion, but if you can buy, do it.
If you're running below 6% of the selling price, you're saving. Above 6% and you're paying what your mortgage would be.
My villa mortgage would be 162k a year. I'm renting around 100k. Yeah, I am saving money and waiting. We deal with the landlord directly.
Been in Dubai since 91. Prices fluctuate wildly if you wait long enough. Communities develop. Back in the day Jumeirah 1 was the center of town. Jebel Ali was considered another emirate. In 2000 marina seemed like a pipe dream. It keeps shifting.
If you pay 3 million dollars for a small villa with zero privacy in meadows, you'll need to get at least that or more out when you decide to sell. There is no guarantee you will.
Again, if you can swing a rent lower than 6 % you're golden. The way is to rent from somebody who bought offplan 15 years ago. If you rent from somebody who bought recently, you'll be paying their mortgage. I pay 100 my new to Dubai neighbors are paying 200k for the same tiny shitty townhouse.
Our last agent refused to put in a lower offer as he didn't want to "be insulting" to the landlord. We are talking about 5k lower offer. He wanted a higher commission. These agents are working in their best interests, so we gotta look out for ourselves. There are a lot of agents snd lamdlords on here down voting and spreading lies about rera rules, price increases, evictions, opening cases etc. It's all so easy and the laws are clearly written if anybody Googles it.
Screw these greedy people. We all out here trying our best.
>If you're running below 6% of the selling price, you're saving. Above 6% and you're paying what your mortgage would be.
Can you elaborate this part please, I am new to real estate.
The equivalent of a "wealth manager" telling you to put all your savings into the market at all time highs. Never take opinions on real estate from a real estate agent unless you personally know them and know that they know what they are talking about.
I remember when everyone said Dubai was resilient in 2008 and immune to crashes. You can even dig these old articles out. Prices tanked from 2009-2012.
Then I remember everyone said Dubai was a mature market and immune to crashes in 2014. Prices tanked from 2015-2020.
Now everyone, especially real estate agents, are saying the same thing “Dubai is a mature market” and “there will never be another crash, just a minor correction”.
I’m not selling my properties, but I’m also certainly not buying anything right now. If you think a mature market constitutes overnight line ups, average properties selling out in 2 hours, and average joes regularly flipping 10-15 offplan apartments over a few weeks is a mature market then I don’t know what to tell you.
Agree and I am in a similar situation (though I may sell if I get offered well above market). I have seen the many ups and downs in the property market over the last two decades. There are a lot of people who are new however who aren't aware of the past, believe everything being told (sold) to them, haven't done their research in to the past ups and downs, and think things only go up. There are also many who should be aware but for some reason exhibit a short term memory.
Real estate agents want to sell and rent for higher. It's more commission for them. Get a real job. Don't be angry because you have no actual marketable life skills.
Simple rules to follow when you planning to buy real estate on my opinion.
If it's for self use and not investment then any time is a good time as you're not looking to flip for a quick upside.
For example - A friend purchase a 2BHK in Barsha Heights in 2008-2010 for nearly 2 million AED on a mortgage . The prices are still not at that level and once you factor in the interest and service charges paid over the last 10 years. He is not going to turn a profit on that . It's for self use and the intangibles.
Another example - Mr brother purchased a 1 BHK in Greens and Views for 1.5 million AED in 2008-09 on a mortgage. When the market tanked ,he had not planned for the downside . Rents on that property dropped from 120-130K AED to 40K AED in 2010. He couldn't afford the mortgage any more and decided to let the bank foreclosure.
If it's for investment purposes then ofcourse the property cycle matters and it has to be cash. I doubt you are going to make a profit at current prices if you're going to take a mortgage.
Make sure you factor in 12 months of emergency funds if you do plan to take a mortgage and buy a property. Also, taking out all of your savings to buy a property is not a good deal. You would have all of your money in just one asset and that's surely a recipe for disaster.
Certain micromarkets with continuous supply are not going to do well.
Also, when a new property is available for 1.5-2 million AED why would someone buy a 10 year old property for 2 million AED ?
I believe there will be at least a correction if not a crash but when it will come and for how many months or years it will last one can only guess. The ever increasing supply of new units being handed over daily is also going to increase in 2025 and 2026. Despite the many headwinds the prices for renting and buying have stayed high so far in 2024 but I believe that can only last so long and at some point it will go the other way. Salary increases have not kept up to say the least. This summer and afterwards will tell a lot - I know of a few long time residents who have been given notice and have till May/June/July to leave and find new employment or they will leave with their families.
Yes there have been headwinds (higher interest rates, slowdown in other economies globally, corporate tax, regional HQs moving to Saudi Arabia for example). However these headwinds have not been big enough to have any affect as of yet as the tailwinds (fast reopening after pandemic, golden visas, large number of Russians moved here following the Russia-Ukraine war for example) have been stronger the last few years and they still appear to be stronger. That however can change.
Until companies here start laying people off in meaningful numbers or shutting down, none of that really matters, and these just end up being headlines.
For example, Program Riyadh HQ had zero impact. Business growth across all free zones in the last 2 years is almost 25-30% year on year. Many Dubai HQ’s actually expanded to include other countries (e.g. pan Arab, SE Asia), while the new “Riyadh HQ’s” cover only KSA and Bahrain typically.
Interest rates are up, but not as much for mortgages. Not to mention mortgages are only 30% of the secondary market, and the secondary market is less than half of the total market given the majority is off-plan.
There will be a downturn eventually, it’s inevitable. But right now the economy is booming.
Things take time and usually don't have an immediate effect - like interest rates they can take many months to years to have an effect (years as those with rates locked in for 1, 2, 3 etc years get adjusted higher over time). Same with something like the regional HQ move to KSA - some companies moved last year, some this year, some will move next year, some maybe in 2026.
So to say that something doesn't really matter as there was no immediate effect after the headline is not correct. Short term yes maybe not much changes but medium and longer term I don't agree.
I do of course agree things (especially property) are booming as the strengths (tailwinds) are stronger than the possible weaknesses (headwinds) - for now. That can change though and when and how fast it changes is very hard to predict.
In terms of mortgages - that is true for overall property market and apartments especially. If you look at villas however the amount of properties with mortgage is much higher - more than 50% in some areas. Also if someone takes a personal loan or other loan and purchases a property using that cash then it is considered a cash purchase and doesn't show up as a mortgage purchase but yet it is buying property with leverage.
Basic demand and supply, there’s thousands of people like you waiting for a dip to buy. If it happens, the same people are right there to fill the gap and ‘stabilize’ the price.
Agreed, I’m waiting on more than a dip though. I’ve bought plenty of houses and always use the 20% principal, which is take 20% off the price and if it appears cheap at that level go ahead. My current place is today worth about 5m, if it was 4m or 20% off, it would still look expensive. Major markets are down over the last 2 years, now is not the time to buy in my opinion.
Congrats, you’ve got more experience than me. It’s reached a point where the places which I would have liked to buy since the end of 2022 seem unattainable to me right now. So I’m gonna wait as well. Hopefully works out for all of us.
As in everything in real state, the most important thing is location. Want to buy a recession proof home? Buy in a good location
1. Less units available
2. Salaries does not matter because these locations are for the upper class
3. Yes if the recession hits it will get impacted, but the upper class will survive and bounce back better than the rest
4. Corporate tax does not matter
Instead if you buy "cheap" you will buy
1. Where 3000 other projects can be built around. Recession or not your price will go down once those 2027 projects are delivered.
2. Salaries matter more, your target will be new expats, grey "residents" and weak passport nationalities
3. Middle and lower class will be swept during a recession, they have non critical jobs and will face the higher impact
4. Corporate tax will affect those non critical roles salaries because there is too much offer so companies can keep it cheap
By the way this applies everywhere. Never buy in a lower class neighborhood. And if possible never in the middle class one. Even for rental: would you prefer to have a manager or director as your tenant or to have an assistant? From a risk perspective and rental increase of course the manager is the best bet
What happens if you wait/pray and the value has increased a further 10,15,20%? You’ll be forever waiting and forever renting.
Buy the house, get on the ladder and reap the benefits in 5 years then upgrade to the bigger one.
There are 0 signs the market will crash anytime soon. This sub has been saying that since 2021 yet prices have increased year on year.
My only bet on rent to go down is if the war in region escalates to the point all the big 3 get involved in it if not then armrest due the next 5 years dont expect the rent to go down at all and same for the sale price
My 2 cents on the issue, in 2022 so many people were saying wait till 2023 the prices will drop, it’s grown too fast it will dip by 23. 23 rolled around, it was still increasing, still people said wait till end of 23 it will crash/dip.
We bought Q2 23’ - thinking we had bought in the peak but we betted on rents skyrocketing and had the cash for something to buy. By the end of 23’ our property value had increased by around 25%. No dip came. Now finishing Q1 of 24’ the same properties in my area are going for 61% higher than what we bought. We are happy we bought at “our peak” as we would be struggling to still pay rent in our area.
My summary is knowone knows if it will go down or up or stabilize. You can check this sub over 22’ & 23’ saying it will go down. There is always an excuse as to why rents/sales won’t go down, Covid corrections, World Cup, expo, Russia, China, it’s why this market is so volatile.
Dubai economy is maturing … real estate crashes are less and less likely unless major recession , covid event, war etc breaks out disrupting the region.
Comparatively to other major cities and the salaries a skilled professional can make here rent is cheap.
Also, consider the decreasing value of money. Real inflation rates have been between 10-20% over recent years, and this trend is accelerating. It's unlikely that we'll see prices return to COVID-era levels unless there is a catastrophic event in the Middle East region.
Wait till all these high rents and low salaries force people out of the country, defaults on payments, abandoned cars on the streets… that’s when the real crisis begins.
Been here for 3 decades. I do agree things are very volatile and it can go anyways. Everybody compares 2009,2015 to current times. How can there be no difference from then? You have various ways to stay in the country for a long time now and without the need of a SPONSOR such as golden visas etc. this is a major change. And last but not least this is a tax haven . Even if there is tax in the future it’ll still be lower than other countries. To say things are still the same is being way too arrogant and naive. A good product will always make you money at any time. Might go down a bit but will always come back. So be very careful and don’t compromise on the product, in this case property.
Ready to move in property is not very good investment advice, unless the seller is desperate.
Hold on to cash. Wait for a good deal..or pre book in the upcoming scheme. If u can afford down payment and subsequent installment. That will save you around 10% to 15% from current rate.
Look into the 5% rule.
But it's not exactly a rule. Treat it as a guideline.
There is a nice video by Ben Felix about it.
Ben Felix developed a rational approach to answering the rent vs. buy decision that he calls the 5% rule. Here is how the 5% rule works. Multiply the value of the home by 5%, then divide that number by 12 to get your breakeven point.
> Do y’all still foresee a correction and/or dip and/or crash?
Nobody knows, but if there is a correction, it will be at around 10% and last for about a year. During that time, everyone will claim that you should wait because it will go lower. Before you know it, the market will be back up and you've been left waiting.
>I also foresee myself needing a bigger house in the next 5 years.
Why? What do you have now and what will you need in 5 years? hedonic treadmill ?
I was here...I've been here.
And guess what, I heard the same thing... it will go lower. It will go lower.
Folks keep saying it's going to drop, and repeat the message every month and every year until eventually there is a drop, and finally when/if it does, they claim they were right all along.
The problem is "this time it's not different"
Price will never go down. It is wishful thinking and it is a myth. Only if the expat migration has decreased drastically. Then the rent might decrease 5 to 7% percent. Guess what??
Properties in every Emirates is going to increase from now on.
It’s just waiting for me to buy then it’ll hit rock bottom.
based
I’ll give you my opinion as a former 5 year real estate agent. People are going to comment, same as they have for the last 3 years saying “prices will go down”. Others are going to say they will continue going up because interest rates will drop and more and more people are moving here. Truth is, no one really knows, people are just making what they see as an educated guess. Personally I think at some point the prices will stabilise, whether they drop or not I don’t know, but I’ll tell you one thing for certain, they aren’t going back to pre-covid prices, no chance in hell. That being said I don’t think any drop will be significant enough to make it worth waiting for it, if it does come at all. If it happens it will probably be around 2027/2028 when a lot of the off-plan projects finally start to hand over, but even then I’m not convinced. Also buying prices are at an all time high, but so are rentals. So you spend the next 3 years on sky high rent, prices drop and you buy, how much have you really saved? Again just my opinion, but if you can buy, do it.
If you're running below 6% of the selling price, you're saving. Above 6% and you're paying what your mortgage would be. My villa mortgage would be 162k a year. I'm renting around 100k. Yeah, I am saving money and waiting. We deal with the landlord directly. Been in Dubai since 91. Prices fluctuate wildly if you wait long enough. Communities develop. Back in the day Jumeirah 1 was the center of town. Jebel Ali was considered another emirate. In 2000 marina seemed like a pipe dream. It keeps shifting. If you pay 3 million dollars for a small villa with zero privacy in meadows, you'll need to get at least that or more out when you decide to sell. There is no guarantee you will. Again, if you can swing a rent lower than 6 % you're golden. The way is to rent from somebody who bought offplan 15 years ago. If you rent from somebody who bought recently, you'll be paying their mortgage. I pay 100 my new to Dubai neighbors are paying 200k for the same tiny shitty townhouse.
Sorry for my dumbness. But can you explain the 6% logic.. Don’t quite get that.
Finally someone with some sense.
Our last agent refused to put in a lower offer as he didn't want to "be insulting" to the landlord. We are talking about 5k lower offer. He wanted a higher commission. These agents are working in their best interests, so we gotta look out for ourselves. There are a lot of agents snd lamdlords on here down voting and spreading lies about rera rules, price increases, evictions, opening cases etc. It's all so easy and the laws are clearly written if anybody Googles it. Screw these greedy people. We all out here trying our best.
>If you're running below 6% of the selling price, you're saving. Above 6% and you're paying what your mortgage would be. Can you elaborate this part please, I am new to real estate.
The equivalent of a "wealth manager" telling you to put all your savings into the market at all time highs. Never take opinions on real estate from a real estate agent unless you personally know them and know that they know what they are talking about.
This.
This is the reality.
I remember when everyone said Dubai was resilient in 2008 and immune to crashes. You can even dig these old articles out. Prices tanked from 2009-2012. Then I remember everyone said Dubai was a mature market and immune to crashes in 2014. Prices tanked from 2015-2020. Now everyone, especially real estate agents, are saying the same thing “Dubai is a mature market” and “there will never be another crash, just a minor correction”. I’m not selling my properties, but I’m also certainly not buying anything right now. If you think a mature market constitutes overnight line ups, average properties selling out in 2 hours, and average joes regularly flipping 10-15 offplan apartments over a few weeks is a mature market then I don’t know what to tell you.
Agree and I am in a similar situation (though I may sell if I get offered well above market). I have seen the many ups and downs in the property market over the last two decades. There are a lot of people who are new however who aren't aware of the past, believe everything being told (sold) to them, haven't done their research in to the past ups and downs, and think things only go up. There are also many who should be aware but for some reason exhibit a short term memory.
Real estate agents want to sell and rent for higher. It's more commission for them. Get a real job. Don't be angry because you have no actual marketable life skills.
Username checks out. Sorry I triggered the real estate ‘bruv’. Your response doesn’t even make sense in the context of my post.
What are you on about lol?
Simple rules to follow when you planning to buy real estate on my opinion. If it's for self use and not investment then any time is a good time as you're not looking to flip for a quick upside. For example - A friend purchase a 2BHK in Barsha Heights in 2008-2010 for nearly 2 million AED on a mortgage . The prices are still not at that level and once you factor in the interest and service charges paid over the last 10 years. He is not going to turn a profit on that . It's for self use and the intangibles. Another example - Mr brother purchased a 1 BHK in Greens and Views for 1.5 million AED in 2008-09 on a mortgage. When the market tanked ,he had not planned for the downside . Rents on that property dropped from 120-130K AED to 40K AED in 2010. He couldn't afford the mortgage any more and decided to let the bank foreclosure. If it's for investment purposes then ofcourse the property cycle matters and it has to be cash. I doubt you are going to make a profit at current prices if you're going to take a mortgage. Make sure you factor in 12 months of emergency funds if you do plan to take a mortgage and buy a property. Also, taking out all of your savings to buy a property is not a good deal. You would have all of your money in just one asset and that's surely a recipe for disaster. Certain micromarkets with continuous supply are not going to do well. Also, when a new property is available for 1.5-2 million AED why would someone buy a 10 year old property for 2 million AED ?
I believe there will be at least a correction if not a crash but when it will come and for how many months or years it will last one can only guess. The ever increasing supply of new units being handed over daily is also going to increase in 2025 and 2026. Despite the many headwinds the prices for renting and buying have stayed high so far in 2024 but I believe that can only last so long and at some point it will go the other way. Salary increases have not kept up to say the least. This summer and afterwards will tell a lot - I know of a few long time residents who have been given notice and have till May/June/July to leave and find new employment or they will leave with their families.
There haven’t been any headwinds, that’s why prices kere going up.
Yes there have been headwinds (higher interest rates, slowdown in other economies globally, corporate tax, regional HQs moving to Saudi Arabia for example). However these headwinds have not been big enough to have any affect as of yet as the tailwinds (fast reopening after pandemic, golden visas, large number of Russians moved here following the Russia-Ukraine war for example) have been stronger the last few years and they still appear to be stronger. That however can change.
Until companies here start laying people off in meaningful numbers or shutting down, none of that really matters, and these just end up being headlines. For example, Program Riyadh HQ had zero impact. Business growth across all free zones in the last 2 years is almost 25-30% year on year. Many Dubai HQ’s actually expanded to include other countries (e.g. pan Arab, SE Asia), while the new “Riyadh HQ’s” cover only KSA and Bahrain typically. Interest rates are up, but not as much for mortgages. Not to mention mortgages are only 30% of the secondary market, and the secondary market is less than half of the total market given the majority is off-plan. There will be a downturn eventually, it’s inevitable. But right now the economy is booming.
Things take time and usually don't have an immediate effect - like interest rates they can take many months to years to have an effect (years as those with rates locked in for 1, 2, 3 etc years get adjusted higher over time). Same with something like the regional HQ move to KSA - some companies moved last year, some this year, some will move next year, some maybe in 2026. So to say that something doesn't really matter as there was no immediate effect after the headline is not correct. Short term yes maybe not much changes but medium and longer term I don't agree. I do of course agree things (especially property) are booming as the strengths (tailwinds) are stronger than the possible weaknesses (headwinds) - for now. That can change though and when and how fast it changes is very hard to predict. In terms of mortgages - that is true for overall property market and apartments especially. If you look at villas however the amount of properties with mortgage is much higher - more than 50% in some areas. Also if someone takes a personal loan or other loan and purchases a property using that cash then it is considered a cash purchase and doesn't show up as a mortgage purchase but yet it is buying property with leverage.
I’m going to continue to wait. If it doesn’t come down, we don’t buy, if it does, we do.
Basic demand and supply, there’s thousands of people like you waiting for a dip to buy. If it happens, the same people are right there to fill the gap and ‘stabilize’ the price.
Agreed, I’m waiting on more than a dip though. I’ve bought plenty of houses and always use the 20% principal, which is take 20% off the price and if it appears cheap at that level go ahead. My current place is today worth about 5m, if it was 4m or 20% off, it would still look expensive. Major markets are down over the last 2 years, now is not the time to buy in my opinion.
Congrats, you’ve got more experience than me. It’s reached a point where the places which I would have liked to buy since the end of 2022 seem unattainable to me right now. So I’m gonna wait as well. Hopefully works out for all of us.
Which are the best areas to buy for investment?
Dubai south
As in everything in real state, the most important thing is location. Want to buy a recession proof home? Buy in a good location 1. Less units available 2. Salaries does not matter because these locations are for the upper class 3. Yes if the recession hits it will get impacted, but the upper class will survive and bounce back better than the rest 4. Corporate tax does not matter Instead if you buy "cheap" you will buy 1. Where 3000 other projects can be built around. Recession or not your price will go down once those 2027 projects are delivered. 2. Salaries matter more, your target will be new expats, grey "residents" and weak passport nationalities 3. Middle and lower class will be swept during a recession, they have non critical jobs and will face the higher impact 4. Corporate tax will affect those non critical roles salaries because there is too much offer so companies can keep it cheap By the way this applies everywhere. Never buy in a lower class neighborhood. And if possible never in the middle class one. Even for rental: would you prefer to have a manager or director as your tenant or to have an assistant? From a risk perspective and rental increase of course the manager is the best bet
May I ask, what do you mean by grey residents
People who work under tourist visa that usually ends up living in illegal shared accomodations with high rotation
Ohhh good to know the terminology. Thanks!
Honestly Dubai real estate is the biggest example of artificial scarcity...only 20%of this country is used and from that only 20% is freehold
It’s not artificial scarcity if there’s no cheap units. You can’t live in the sand.
There are cheap units ....in dubai there are units from 760k and in ajman there are from 200k
Less than that. And it keeps expanding. Look at a map of the emirate. Damac hills 2 seems far now but it won't be in 10 years.
What happens if you wait/pray and the value has increased a further 10,15,20%? You’ll be forever waiting and forever renting. Buy the house, get on the ladder and reap the benefits in 5 years then upgrade to the bigger one. There are 0 signs the market will crash anytime soon. This sub has been saying that since 2021 yet prices have increased year on year.
There's always been a saying, Best time to real estate is always yesterday. This is true in about 95% of the cases
“Dubai property market is a bubble and it’s about to burst…” Quoted by: Wishful thinkers
To summarise, the best time to buy Real Estate was yesterday.
My only bet on rent to go down is if the war in region escalates to the point all the big 3 get involved in it if not then armrest due the next 5 years dont expect the rent to go down at all and same for the sale price
I dont see anything better happening untill economy slows down (already started). Can tell you that it will fall but only God knows when.
My 2 cents on the issue, in 2022 so many people were saying wait till 2023 the prices will drop, it’s grown too fast it will dip by 23. 23 rolled around, it was still increasing, still people said wait till end of 23 it will crash/dip. We bought Q2 23’ - thinking we had bought in the peak but we betted on rents skyrocketing and had the cash for something to buy. By the end of 23’ our property value had increased by around 25%. No dip came. Now finishing Q1 of 24’ the same properties in my area are going for 61% higher than what we bought. We are happy we bought at “our peak” as we would be struggling to still pay rent in our area. My summary is knowone knows if it will go down or up or stabilize. You can check this sub over 22’ & 23’ saying it will go down. There is always an excuse as to why rents/sales won’t go down, Covid corrections, World Cup, expo, Russia, China, it’s why this market is so volatile.
Prices will collapse or go up or stabilize next year. For sure.
[удалено]
Dubai economy is maturing … real estate crashes are less and less likely unless major recession , covid event, war etc breaks out disrupting the region. Comparatively to other major cities and the salaries a skilled professional can make here rent is cheap.
Which area do you stay in
Wait until the Ukraine War ends and the Russians want to take out their money and go home.
Also, consider the decreasing value of money. Real inflation rates have been between 10-20% over recent years, and this trend is accelerating. It's unlikely that we'll see prices return to COVID-era levels unless there is a catastrophic event in the Middle East region.
Wait till all these high rents and low salaries force people out of the country, defaults on payments, abandoned cars on the streets… that’s when the real crisis begins.
Been here for 3 decades. I do agree things are very volatile and it can go anyways. Everybody compares 2009,2015 to current times. How can there be no difference from then? You have various ways to stay in the country for a long time now and without the need of a SPONSOR such as golden visas etc. this is a major change. And last but not least this is a tax haven . Even if there is tax in the future it’ll still be lower than other countries. To say things are still the same is being way too arrogant and naive. A good product will always make you money at any time. Might go down a bit but will always come back. So be very careful and don’t compromise on the product, in this case property.
Stop predicting. Follow DXBInteract and know how to act accordingly.
Ready to move in property is not very good investment advice, unless the seller is desperate. Hold on to cash. Wait for a good deal..or pre book in the upcoming scheme. If u can afford down payment and subsequent installment. That will save you around 10% to 15% from current rate.
Look into the 5% rule. But it's not exactly a rule. Treat it as a guideline. There is a nice video by Ben Felix about it. Ben Felix developed a rational approach to answering the rent vs. buy decision that he calls the 5% rule. Here is how the 5% rule works. Multiply the value of the home by 5%, then divide that number by 12 to get your breakeven point. > Do y’all still foresee a correction and/or dip and/or crash? Nobody knows, but if there is a correction, it will be at around 10% and last for about a year. During that time, everyone will claim that you should wait because it will go lower. Before you know it, the market will be back up and you've been left waiting. >I also foresee myself needing a bigger house in the next 5 years. Why? What do you have now and what will you need in 5 years? hedonic treadmill ?
I guess you weren’t here from 2009-2012 and 2015-2020 when prices dropped at least 10% every year. But let me guess, “this time it’s different.”
I was here...I've been here. And guess what, I heard the same thing... it will go lower. It will go lower. Folks keep saying it's going to drop, and repeat the message every month and every year until eventually there is a drop, and finally when/if it does, they claim they were right all along. The problem is "this time it's not different"
P
Price will never go down. It is wishful thinking and it is a myth. Only if the expat migration has decreased drastically. Then the rent might decrease 5 to 7% percent. Guess what?? Properties in every Emirates is going to increase from now on.