EZHeights - Decoding market value: How to find the perfect home for you

Adham Saleh, the CEO of EZHeights listed out the ultimate cheat sheet on how value of a given market value of a property is determined 

Dubai, UAE, July 26, 2016:  Given a big chunk of your annual income goes into the rent cheque or mortgage payment, the expatriate community in Dubai needs to keep the several points in mind before investing into property. Ever wondered if you’re paying the right price for a given property? 

And don’t get fooled, it’s not the Olympic-sized swimming pool, or the gold chandelier in the building lobby that decides the market value of your building, or area. Adham Saleh, the CEO of EZHeights, the leading Dubai-based e-commerce website explained that finding a comfortable, affordable housing option in Dubai can be an exciting, yet daunting task. 

Also people determine an approximate market value of a property in a given area, solely from the information passed on to them from real estate brokers or other residents in the neighborhood. EZHeights, also a property listing website, that is soon becoming incredibly popular among users in the UAE. 

Saleh recommends that UAE residents must look into various property portals to get an accurate average price of the property she/he is looking for. He stated that EZheights does not accept all the properties proposed on the website. “We do a screening from accurate average prices per area and per size of the property, if its in our range of pricing then we post it to avoid any false information,” he added. 

Saleh explained that the main factors that go into determining the market value of a property are- “Supply and demand of a property would include factors such as- location, access to metro, public transport, and customer perception of an area.” 

He added that areas with 1-2 bedroom properties are far more popular that areas with 3-4 bedrooms. “One of the reasons why Dubai Marina is so popular is because a majority of the apartments are 1-2 bedrooms. If there were more 3-4 bedroom apartments, the department will be much lower,” said Saleh. 

According to Saleh, economic growth and unemployment also affects prices. He added: “Less employment and good economic growth will encourage buying which will increase prices and vice versa.” Location of the property, cost of construction (prices of cement, steel, etc.) will affect the price of the property.

Close proximity to public transport- like metro, bus stands; water taxis etc. definitely increase the prices. According to Cluttons’ industry trends, the property costs in Dubai Marina have increased by 28 per cent since 2010, due to its connectivity to the Dubai Metro and Dubai Tram, and its proximity to various retail offerings.

Also, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has claimed that the value of properties situated within 1.5 kilometres of metro stations has risen to 41 per cent to 13 per cent. “Not only does close proximity to public transport affects price but also schools and supermarkets help with that,” he added.