By contrast, Manila and the three Turkish cities of Izmir, Ankara and Istanbul led the index, all registering annual price growth above 25 percent.
Canadian cities also rose up the annual rankings with four now sitting in the top 20 – Ottawa, Halifax, Montreal and Hamilton.
Taimur Khan, associate partner, head of research, Frank Knight, told Arabian Business: “Given an influx of supply and weaker demand levels, it is not surprising that we have seen prices continue to soften in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Whilst Dubai’s prices are under pressure from both increasing levels of supply and weaker demand, Abu Dhabi has largely seen prices soften as a result of weaker demand.
“However, it is important to note that residential real estate markets in both cities do appear to be entering a new cycle. In Abu Dhabi, whilst prices fell by 5.6 percent in the year to Q3, since then we have seen a marked moderation in price declines, where in the year to November, prices fell by 3.1 percent, the lowest rate of decline in five years.”
He added: “In Dubai the rate of moderation in price declines has been relatively muted with prices falling by 7.8 percent in the year to November, down from 8.1 percent in Q3. Whilst these headline numbers provide some indication of the direction of markets, going forward as markets continue to become more fragmented by asset types and neighbourhoods, the headline data will become less relevant.”
