With Dubai’s property prices in cool-off mode, prospective buyers are in no hurry to seal the deal in the secondary market. The average time taken these days now average anywhere up to 5 to 6 months from the time an investor decides to buy to actually signing the papers for the purchase. The transaction periods are getting longer now. It used to be 1 or 2 months through the better part of last year, even considering the fact that business slowed down during the second-half.
In those days, the buyer would want to close it in the shortest time frame, as values would have shot in the days and weeks it took to clear the paperwork. It’s the reverse now, as stretching the buying process could land the investor a better deal because secondary market prices are still cooling off. Another factor that has lengthened the whole process is that secondary market activity is currently dominated by end-users, especially active in the clusters/communities where prices have corrected substantially. Or in emerging locations where property values are still seen as being easy on their pockets.
