Dubai Rents Hold Up as Property Prices Fall, Deutsche Bank Says

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Dubai home rents are holding up, helped by demand from residents of neighboring emirates, while property prices continue to fall because of oversupply, Deutsche Bank AG said.

Apartment rents rose 1.1 percent in March, compared with the previous month, analysts Nabil Ahmed and Athmane Benzerroug wrote in a note to clients dated April 9. Villa rents climbed 1.3 percent during the same period, according to the note.

“We probably underestimated, a year ago, the amount of migration from the other emirates to Dubai that has created a lot of demand,” Ahmed said in a phone interview today. “A lot of people upgraded for better properties” and many moved to Dubai from Sharjah and the Northern Emirates. Many Abu Dhabi workers live in Dubai to take advantage of cheaper quality housing, he said.