Abu Dhabi: The majority of Abu Dhabi homeowners polled (82%) would reinvest in the property market if they sold their current unit in return for a good premium, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Metropolitan Capital Real Estate (MCRE), a full-service leading property company based in Abu Dhabi. Of the Abu Dhabi property owners surveyed, 67% said they would consider selling their units this year in return for a good premium.

According to the same survey, which polled 300 UAE residents last month, the main reasons to reinvest property sale income back into the real estate market are a requirement to upgrade (61%), a need to relocate (31%) and a desire to retire in the UAE (8%). 

Evgeny Ratskevich, CEO of Metropolitan Capital Real Estate, said: “Over the next two years we will see a lot more interest in the Abu Dhabi secondary real estate market from international end users. More and more expats are viewing Abu Dhabi as a place to live, work and retire in due to the capital’s robust economy, safe and secure environment, and thriving job market. We are increasingly seeing interest from large businesses who are relocating their headquarters here and from end users who are planning to buy primary or secondary residences. Abu Dhabi’s new Midfield Terminal, expected to open in early December this year, will open new markets and accelerate interest in the city’s real estate sector from key markets such as India, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Western Europe and the United Kingdom.” 

Ratskevich added: “The data collected in our YouGov survey shows that Abu Dhabi homeowners are confident in the city’s property market indicating that the level of planned activity in secondary market will continue to fuel transaction volumes. Buyers looking to invest in Abu Dhabi’s secondary property market this year will benefit from the projected increasing number of current owners who plan to liquidate their assets in order to reinvest it back in the same market. In addition, 69% of the property owners polled also said that they were planning to rent out their property in the next 12 months which means we should expect some additional stock to hit the market providing more options for tenants.” 

Other highlights of the MCRE YouGov survey for Abu Dhabi include:
 
•    73% own one or two properties 
•    65% own one or two-bedroom properties in Abu Dhabi
•    60% are currently living in the property they purchased 
•    82% made significant improvements to their property since they bought it
•    8% spent over AED 1M to renovate their property 
 
In addition to MCRE in Abu Dhabi, the Metropolitan Group also includes Metropolitan Premium Properties and Metropolitan Homes in Dubai, Luxury Immobilien GmbH, a real estate agency in Vienna and Metropolitan Consulting FZE, providing personal and business legal services in the UAE.