It is a tenants’ market in Dubai, as reflected by weakening rental values across many areas in the emirate, owed in part to the fact that the supply of private rented accommodation on the market has increased of late as more investors continue to take advantage of cheaper homes in Dubai. 

The cost of renting flats across various communities registered an overall fall of 2% last month compared with the corresponding period last year, according to Bayut.

The property portal report that the average annual rent for studio apartments in Dubai stood at Dh57,000 (£11,717) a year, down 6% compared with the average rent in the first six months of 2016, the average cost of renting a one-bedroom residential unit dropped 7% to Dh92,000 (£18,912) a year, while the average two-bedroom unit fell by 3% to Dh145,000 (£29,806) a year.

“Apartment rents are becoming more and more affordable, with a total downward adjustment in July of 2%,” said Bayut in its latest analysis sent to Gulf News.

Despite the fall in rents, the property portal said that the average rental yield across all bed categories recorded an uplift of 5.6%, as property prices across the emirate continue to fall.

With rental prices now believed to be at or near bottoming out and with JLL forecasting that property prices may start to rise once more in Dubai from early next year, now looks like quite a good time to start thinking about investing in the emirate’s housing market, although the weak sterling exchange rate remains an issue as it adds to the cost of buying property in Dubai.