Investors continue to favour 'established' parts of Dubai

A lot has been made about the strong performance of Dubai's real estate sector in 2012, but where exactly have people been buying new properties?It will come as little surprise that more upmarket and exclusive parts of town were in high demand last year.According to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), "established" areas of the emirate attracted plenty of interest in the past 12 months and this is a trend that looks likely to continue.JLL's head of research in the Middle East and North Africa Craig Plumb told Emirates 24/7 that property owners in Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina are benefiting from high rental yields.In fact, the Reidin rental index showed that rates increased by seven per cent year-on-year in 2012.Tenants staying in villas were forced to pay an extra six per cent, while people living in apartments had to hand over an extra seven per cent to their landlord."We have seen an increase in rents in established areas and we expect the same trend to continue. Rents are unlikely to increase in secondary locations," Mr Plumb was quoted as saying.The number of new buildings springing up across the emirate was rather subdued last year, but JLL is expecting a very different story in 2013.Indeed, it stated that as many as 45,000 new residential units will be released in the next two years.The fact that people are snapping up property investments in Dubai's trendiest districts is unlikely to shock anybody.Asal Abedi, residential consultant at Better Homes, recently told the same news provider that property prices in certain parts of Downtown Dubai increased by as much as 25 per cent in 2012.Such is the huge sense of optimism surrounding Dubai's property market at the moment, JLL believes the biggest danger to the sector is over-confidence, according to AMEinfo.Nevertheless, it is extremely encouraging to see the city thriving and it is fair to claim that Dubai has now overcome the problems it faced during the global economic downturn.The First Group can help you find properties for sale in Dubai