Villa prices at Jumeirah Park and Jumeirah Islands, Nakheel’s exclusive residential developments in Dubai, have plunged up to 45 percent in the last four months.
Brokers across the UAE said speculators were desperately scrambling to off-load property before prices fell further.
Imran Aslam, agent at Dubai-based property broker AAA said completed three to four bedroom villas on Jumeirah Islands were now on the market for as low as six million dirhams, down from 10.5 million dirhams four months ago.
“It’s a big difference now. Investors are quickly reducing prices. They are also finding they have got too many [properties], so they want to sell. At the moment there is no stable price in the market.”
Aslam said off-plan villas at Jumeirah Park, a 350 hectare planned residential community due for completion in the next few months, have fallen in price by 40 percent.
Distressed investors are fleeing Dubai’s once red hot real estate market as the global credit crunch hits demand, sending values tumbling.
Lack of mortgage availability exacerbated by a regional liquidity squeeze is also hampering would be buyers, agents said.
Adriana Kapostikova, broker at Dubai Waterfront Properties said: “It [the market] is going down. This is the problem. There are people putting prices down and down because they want to sell. It’s cheap now.”
Up-market villas on Jumeirah Islands, a smart residential enclave consisting of a series of man-made islands near Emirates Golf Club, have come down in value from 12 million dirhams to nine million dirhams, a reduction of 30 percent, Kapostikova said.
Abu Dhabi-based broker Ocean View said real estate values at Jumeirah Park had slipped 40 to 50 percent in the last few months.
Private developer Nakheel completed Jumeirah Islands in 2006. Villas at Jumeirah Park, which is a family orientated development with a number of open spaces and parks, range from three-five bedroom villas.
From Arabian Business