DUBAI—Two years ago, no one would have thought that a luxury apartment in the world’s tallest building would have been within the grasp of anyone other than the world’s richest millionaires.
But facing a downturn in the property market, real estate agents in the once freewheeling emirate of Dubai have been forced to revise downward the rents asked for apartments in the Burj Khalifa.
For a relatively cheap US$3,100 a month, studio apartments can be rented in the vertiginous 2,717-foot tall landmark building.
“This is a sign of just how much the market has corrected itself in the last two years,” said one estate agent, who declined to be named.
The building, which also houses the world’s first Armani Hotel, was opened in January with a recession-defying celebration that featured 10,000 fireworks.
It was renamed from the Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa, after the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Abu Dhabi ruler had recently bailed out the debt-ridden emirate of Dubai to the tune of $10 billion.
A total of 60 residential units at the Burj Khalifa were released onto the market this week by government-owned master developer Emaar.
Studio apartments were being offered by several agents to be leased from $38,000 a year, and one-bedroom units for $49,000 a year.
“We are still in the early steps, and this is a very exclusive piece of real estate,” said Joe Le Beau, an agent with Elysian Real Estate in Dubai, in comments given to local daily Gulf News.
Another agent from Networth Real Estate told the paper that few owners were willing to sell in the current market.
Last month, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, predicted that property prices in the emirate would fall a further 15 percent in 2010, on top of a 45 percent dive last year.
The emirate has 44,000 vacant units, many of them still to come onto the market, which will put further pressure on prices, the report said.
The leasing market has similarly experienced a downturn, with agents reporting an anecdotal decline by as much as 60 percent from the 2008 heyday in some prime areas.
The Burj Khalifa rental rates are comparable with high-end properties in Manhattan and London. However bloggers were scathing at the comparison.
“The real estate guys can say what they want. The fact is that Burj Khalifa is not in Manhattan. It’s in the middle of dust, construction, and an arid desert,” one wrote.
But facing a downturn in the property market, real estate agents in the once freewheeling emirate of Dubai have been forced to revise downward the rents asked for apartments in the Burj Khalifa.
For a relatively cheap US$3,100 a month, studio apartments can be rented in the vertiginous 2,717-foot tall landmark building.
“This is a sign of just how much the market has corrected itself in the last two years,” said one estate agent, who declined to be named.
The building, which also houses the world’s first Armani Hotel, was opened in January with a recession-defying celebration that featured 10,000 fireworks.
It was renamed from the Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa, after the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Abu Dhabi ruler had recently bailed out the debt-ridden emirate of Dubai to the tune of $10 billion.
A total of 60 residential units at the Burj Khalifa were released onto the market this week by government-owned master developer Emaar.
Studio apartments were being offered by several agents to be leased from $38,000 a year, and one-bedroom units for $49,000 a year.
“We are still in the early steps, and this is a very exclusive piece of real estate,” said Joe Le Beau, an agent with Elysian Real Estate in Dubai, in comments given to local daily Gulf News.
Another agent from Networth Real Estate told the paper that few owners were willing to sell in the current market.
Last month, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, predicted that property prices in the emirate would fall a further 15 percent in 2010, on top of a 45 percent dive last year.
The emirate has 44,000 vacant units, many of them still to come onto the market, which will put further pressure on prices, the report said.
The leasing market has similarly experienced a downturn, with agents reporting an anecdotal decline by as much as 60 percent from the 2008 heyday in some prime areas.
The Burj Khalifa rental rates are comparable with high-end properties in Manhattan and London. However bloggers were scathing at the comparison.
“The real estate guys can say what they want. The fact is that Burj Khalifa is not in Manhattan. It’s in the middle of dust, construction, and an arid desert,” one wrote.
