Renting in Dubai has become cheaper with rental costs dropping by a third in under eight weeks, according to an Arabianbusiness.com report quoting agents. The drop in prices was due to homeowners flooding the leasing market with rental opportunities despite a drop in rental demand. Some of Dubai's most prestigious locations, including the Burj Dubai and Palm Jumeirah lost close to 33 percent of their value follwing a six-year property boom. A leasing consultant for Dubai Waterfront Properties, Nehad Abdelhamit said annual rents for two bedroom villas in the Springs had dropped from $59,000 to $40,000 in under two months. The Palm Jumeirah man-made islands' seven bedroom villas went from 270,000 to $182,000, down 33 percent in the last few months. “Most of the properties are not selling, so they are renting them instead to secure an income. People have got mortgages to pay,” Arabianbusiness.com quoted her as saying. Farida Khan, a leasing consultant also at Dubai Waterfront Properties said two-bedroom apartments at developer Emaar's flagship Burj Dubai project had tumbled in price from $68,000 to $46,000. “There is so much stock available and much less demand,” she said. Morgan Stanley said rents in Dubai were down seven percent in December from a peak last summer, while the cost of renting villas had declined 10 percent.
