| Kippreport.com

Renting instead of selling…at a time like this? No way!

July 25, 2011 12:43 by Eva Fernandes

When you have a section on your daily news list titled “No Shit Sherlocks” as we at Kipp do, it is very difficult to find examples that outdo one another week after week. Then again, when you are an observer of the UAE press, like we are, things can get easier.

This week’s “No Shit Sherlock” award goes to, none other than trusty ol’Emirates 24|7, who published an insightful article on the real estate market titled “Burj Khalifa unit owners prefer to rent at discount than sell at loss.” What is that? In a disastrous property market investors prefer to rent than sell and loose out big time? These are expert insights, indeed. We are linking the article for your edification; pearls of wisdom like these do not come our way often.

But our teasing aside, the article does outline some rather noteworthy figures. Despite reassurance that the real estate market is somewhat stabilising, with upmarket property prices showing signs of recovery over the others, it would seem Burj Khalifa isn’t as lucky. According to Elysian Real Estate, two-bedroom apartments which used to be leased for anything between Dh180,000-Dh240,000) are now going for something in the Dh140,000-Dh210,000 range; three bed room apartments which used to go off for as much as Dh350,000 are not being leased for the rate of the Dh270,000-Dh300,000.

Is it any surprise that investors prefer to limit their losses by renting out instead of selling? Not really, but it is rather unnerving to see the prices of the tallest towers haven’t really come down to earth just yet.

Tags: burj khalifa prices, estate, real estate dubai burj khalifa