Dubai’s property rental market to recover in 2017, says dubizzle GM

Investor confidence is improving as Dubai’s real estate market nears its cyclical trough, Barry Judge, general manager of classifieds platform dubizzle, told Argaam in an exclusive interview. Property sales could also improve as more expatriates plan on staying longer terms, he added.

Q) What are dubizzle’s latest tech additions? What will be new in 2017?

A. The most recent addition to our portfolio of services is ‘sell it for me,’ an all-new service in partnership with Expat Wheels that allows users to sell their car through a dedicated concierge-like service, thus, streamlining the car-buying and selling process.

In the property segment, we’ve introduced 360° tours for the first time in the United Arab Emirates. Virtual reality features have also been integrated into the mobile app.

Q) How was the website’s performance in 2016?

A. 2016 was a very successful year. We recorded high traffic figures across all functions – property, autos, pre-loved goods and jobs. The property section received an average of 3.5 million visits per month, motors got 5.5 million visits per month and jobs had 3.4 million visits per month.

In terms of corporate growth, we tripled revenue over the past three years. The use of our mobile phone app has also been on the rise since its launch in 2014, with 63 percent users using the app daily.

Q) What sections are the most popular?

A. When assessing popularity, we look at three factors - visits and listed ads, views per ad, and number of leads/inquiries. dubizzle motors receives an average of 5.5 million per month, while property is on top of ‘ads listed’ with over 210,000 per month. dubizzle jobs has the highest number of leads with approximately 1.7 million applications per month.

Q) What are the major real estate trends that dubizzle foresees in 2017?

A. Based on a report we issued recently in partnership with JLL, we foresee the rental market recuperating this year, with increases limited to single digits in most locations.

We expect this trend to continue as long as Dubai’s economic growth is marginally higher in 2017 compared to last year, and supply levels remain constrained.

An influencing factor could be that we expect more units to be delivered when real estate projects are handed over. The materialization rate will likely remain low, as many announced projects have not begun construction or are delayed. There is a potential of oversupply if all these projects progress on schedule with over 30,000 units under construction, planned for delivery in 2017.

Overall, we have found that there is an increase in investor confidence as Dubai’s real estate market nears its cyclical trough. As expats are planning on staying longer terms, sales could be higher. On a global scale, international investors have shown interest in Dubai as a favorable location within the region.

Q) Any plans for an IPO?

A. We have no plans for an IPO. 

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com