Witness The mortgage sector in the UAEa record performance during 2021, as data from the Dubai Land Department indicated an increase in the value of mortgage transactions by 26% compared to the high rates recorded in 2017, according to a report by Mortgage Finder.
Mortgage Finder’s 2021 mortgage transactions exceeded the previous two years combined.
According to Mortgage Finder, which specializes in mortgages, 82% of mortgage transactions last year in the UAE were for first-time buyers.
One of the factors that contributed to this is the establishment of the Central Bank of the Emirates in March 2020
Reducing the value of the first payment for new buyers to 20% for non-Emiratis and 15% for Emirati nationals.
Residents of the UAE represented 94% of the borrowers, most of whom chose to buy real estate to reside there, compared to only 6% of non-residents.
The majority of buyers were from Australia, France, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
One- and three-year fixed-rate mortgages were the buyers’ preferred options.
Coinciding with the general decline in interest rates during the previous years, mortgage payments were close to the levels of rental payments, which led to an increase in the percentage of borrowers whose monthly salaries do not exceed 20,000 dirhams.
This segment represented 13% over the past year, compared to 9% of total borrowers for 2020.
Villas and townhouses witnessed a greater demand compared to apartments over the course of 2021, with the percentage of villa buyers reaching 64% compared to 36% of apartment buyers.
The Mortgage Finder scored a better match between real estate appraisals and purchase prices.
Especially for new real estate, which contributed to facilitating the process of obtaining a mortgage for buyers.
