RERA launched their Rent Index last year just in an attempt to help stabilise the rental market. With rentals rising rapidly landlords were simply picking a figure and tenants had little choice, so had to accept.
The market started to change in October with the credit crunch biting and landlords expectations were not matching that of the tenant. The Index was immediately out dated and had little relevance in its first 6 months of publication.
On the 15th April 2009 RERA will update the index and in theory there should be an alignment of landlord and tenant expectations.
Yesterday Landmark launched their own unofficial index which is actually a fair reflection on the present situation. Although Landmark have a brokerage department they have always set themselves out to be an advisory company and it will be interesting to note the differences in these two opinions. There is a good a chance that the RERA index will be still be out of date as rents have declined dramatically in the past 3 months and RERA tend to live in bubble.
I think the RERA index will have some relevance but my advice to Landlords and Tenants is to pick an agent who really knows the area in question and so long as you choose to talk to someone who can count to 500 then you should be able to gain a true idea of rental values in Dubai.
I thought of doing our own index for The Palm but I was too scared to offend the Landlords in Tiara who will be less than impressed with present rentals on the Shoreline apartments. However, I have been in Tiara this week and have to say that this development is going to be fantastic . The finish is excellent, the view is amazing and the gardens give you the feel of being in a hotel environment. The shoreline apartment rents will undoubtedly suffer with over 500 Tiara apartments hitting the market in the next 3 months and the rent index will need updating again.
