Dubai apartment rents rose in Q1, report shows

The incredible demand for luxurious apartments in Dubai enabled landlords in most parts of the city to increase their rents in the first quarter of 2013.A new report by Bayt.com suggested that people are falling over themselves to rent out plush apartments in exclusive areas and this is playing right into the hands of savvy property investors.Downtown Dubai is still one of the most popular regions and landlords have had no trouble finding long-term tenants who are willing to pay a premium to live in such a nice part of the sheikhdom.Indeed, the average rent on a studio apartment in Downtown Dubai rose by 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, while the asking price for one and two-bedroom properties went up by 4.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively.Unsurprisingly, the Palm Jumeirah has also proven to be a hotspot for property investment in recent months and this latest report explains why this is the case.Rental prices soared by an astonishing 27 per cent year-on-year and this was mainly attributed to the strong demand coming from high-earning expatriates.The Dubai Marina is also as popular as ever, although rent increases have plateaued slightly due to the sheer number of beautiful new buildings being erected in the area. That said, demand is still robust and investors can expect to see rental rates go up again in the near future.According to Bayt.com, the villa market also performed very well in the first quarter of 2013, with sale and rental prices on the up.As such, it is no real shock that Knight Frank recently included Dubai among its top five real estate markets on the planet.It stated that only Jakarta, Bangkok and Miami could compete with the emirate when it came to property price hikes, as the value of luxurious buildings in Dubai rose by an impressive 18.3 per cent between March 2012 and the same month this year.The First Group can help you find apartments for sale in Dubai Taylor Scott International