Property investment: Abu Dhabi real estate market sees significant buzz in Q2
The Abu Dhabi property market has seen a significant buzz in activity in second quarter of the year, with investors looking to buy more spacious properties as the emirate eased movement restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus.
“I have seen a significant increase in activity and there seems to be a real buzz in the Abu Dhabi market as we exit lockdown,” Thomas McLaughlin, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Mortgage Finder said at a webinar organized by real estate insights platform, Property Finder.
McLaughlin noted a 34 percent increase in agent and client referrals in Q2 compared to Q1. Transaction value has also surged as people are now looking at villas, bigger properties and more space.
Statistics released by the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) revealed that the value of real estate transactions in Abu Dhabi increased by 34 percent to reach 6.3 billion dirhams ($1.72 billion) by the end of April, through 2,617 real estate deals, compared to 4.6 billion dirhams ($1.25 billion) through 1,840 deals during the same period last year.
Thanks to incentives introduced by the Abu Dhabi government, buyers can now save more or use their budget for an extra bedroom or bigger garden, Mclaughlin said.
The Abu Dhabi DMT exempted individuals and companies from 34 real estate registration fees until the end of 2020. These include a 2 percent sale and purchase fee, a 2 percent off plan sale fee in addition to other fees like land exchange fees, mortgage registration, mortgage transfer, mortgage amendment and mortgage redemption.
Lynnette Abad, director of research and data at Property Finder said that sales leads have surged over the last few weeks and mortgage applications too are going up week-on-week.
The transactions that we are seeing today are mostly “for new buyers in the market who after the lockdown realized that they either wanted a new property, they wanted to buy a property, they wanted a property with a pool, outside space, they wanted a villa,” Abad said.
