Rental Property Update in Fujairah UAE

I wrote recently about one of a number of apartment towers that are rising in Fujairah.

Building construction and cranes are good signs which build confidence and help to defy the financial recession.

But apartment towers in the making do not help people who are searching for a place to live right now or in the near future.

I spoke to some key players in the Fujairah property market recently, both representatives of those who manage rental properties and those who work on behalf of people to find a place to rent.

Some Gleanings
* Rental property has become quite expensive in the last two years in Fujairah.

* In one popular group of villas a company negotiated a deal several years ago on behalf of its employees to pay Dh60,000 a year for each home. Now new rental deals in this same estate start at Dh120,000 and some (they are all pretty much the same size and character) are even going for Dh180,000.

* The price hike is attributable to several factors:

+ The new villas and apartments being built cannot keep pace with the demand so it is a hard job finding a place.

+ There is a huge problem with electrical supply in Fujairah. Currently (no pun intended!) there are 4,000 ‘units’ (villas, apartments, factories, shops etc.) waiting for a connection. One representative said that with the lack of electricity in Fujairah, rental companies can set the rental price at whatever level they want.

* The good news is that Fujairah is expecting a diversion of electrical supply from Abu Dhabi by the end of October 2009. This is a temporary measure until the new power plant is built at Quidfa (Fujairah) and generates local supply (completion dates vary but the optimistic date is by the middle of 2010).

* With significant electrical supply to Fujairah by the end of this month, villas, apartments and businesses will be connected and ready for rent. This will not only ease the rental property pressure but it is likely to drop the price of rental apartments and villas by as much as 50% (Dubai’s rental prices have dropped by 40% due to the exodus of renters, not problems with its electrical supply).

* Fujairah villas tend to come in two classes: high standard and very low standard. There seems to be a shortage of moderate quality villas.

* Apartments tend to be less expensive than free-standing villas with 2 bedroom apartments being in the vicinity of Dh55,000-60,000+.

* If you are coming to Fujairah for work it is most helpful to have your company working hard to find you a home and helping to negotiate the price. They have the knowledge and the languages necessary for effective communication.

Other Stories and Related Sites
Emirates Pilots Speak of Fatigue and Safety Issues but Airline Slams the Report, Experiencing the Emirates, 3 October 2009.

See Alinghi’s Arrival in UAE while BMW Oracle Wants Valencia Venue, America’s Cup in the UAE, 3 October 2009.

Luxury Pen to Commemorate Gandhi’s Birthday is Not Write, Stories for Speakers and Writers, 4 October 2009.

Dr Geoff Pound

Geoff can be contacted by email at geoffpound(at)gmail.com on Facebook and Twitter.

Image: From the apartment tower adjacent to the Fish Roundabout, this is the view north (towards the Fujairah Port). Most of the dwellings in this area of Al Gurfa and looking down to Faseel are stand-alone villas. In the centre of the picture you can see the high twin towers of the Siji Apartments in Faseel (with a mosque in front and the Coffee Pot Roundabout to the right and before the Hilton Hotel which is circled by trees). CLICK TO ENLARGE. [I haven’t ‘Photo shopped’ this image in order to give an idea of the haze that often exists in the Fujairah skies].