Abu Dhabi's landlords face intense pressure Rents for high-end homes are taking direct hits as tenants opt for affordable

Dubai: Pressure is mounting on Abu Dhabi's landlords to scale back on their rental demands as tenants search for more affordable options. This is forcing rents at the top end of the market to soften, so much so that the gap between rates in Dubai and Abu Dhabi has narrowed considerably. If in Q1-16, the difference for one- and two-bedroom apartments between the two emirates was Dh20,000 per annum, this is now closer to Dh10,000, according to the latest Asteco report. In the mid-range residential segments, Abu Dhabi’s rates have scaled back by Dh5,000 on average, since Q1-16, whereas Dubai’s rates were down by Dh1,000. According to John Stevens, Managing Director of Asteco: “The ongoing redundancies across various industry sectors and the reduction of staff housing allowances continues to negatively affect demand with a number of tenants opting to downsize and/or move to more affordable developments.”
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