Dubai house prices fell 16 per cent in the second quarter of this year, after rising sharply at the beginning of the year, and are expected to remain flat for at least the next 12 months, according to a new report by a leading international estate agent yesterday.

Issued on the eve of the biggest property exhibition of the year, the report by Colliers International indicates that a six-year-old boom in Dubai’s freehold market – which saw prices rising 78 per cent in the year to June – may finally have ended.
Cityscape opens its doors to an expected 60,000 visitors today, amid widening uncertainty over the future of the global economy as the credit crunch curbs home buyers’ access to capital.

“In the first quarter, the average price went up by 43 per cent while in the second quarter they came down by 16 per cent,” said Ian Albert, a regional director at Colliers International.

He attributed the drop to “seasonable” trends and a possible inkling among investors of the looming credit crunch.

Colliers now expects prices to remain flat until 2010.

UAE Lists comment: The National has updated their article and it was not a “fall by 16%” Read more on the National below

Dubai house prices 'fall by 16%' - The National Newspaper