Does 115 days on market give Dubai coastal buyers real negotiating room?

P

plantsAndCairn

First-time buyer
Established
I’m trying to decide how much negotiating weight to put on roughly 115 days on market for coastal Dubai property advertised between AED 2,349,000 and AED 3,523,000. The market looks split: renovated homes seem to move quickly, while weaker-condition stock sits and gets reduced.

Listings with a clear rental-regulation position also appear to move differently. Has anyone seen recent completed sales that show the gap between the final price and the public asking history? I’m particularly interested in separating genuine stale stock from listings that were withdrawn or repeatedly relaunched.
 
I wouldn’t treat 115 days by itself as evidence that a large discount is available. The seller may be unmotivated, or the listing history may include periods when it was effectively inactive. Completed sales in the same building or very tight area would be more useful than a broad coastal comparison. Condition and tenancy status need to match as closely as possible too.
 
Is this one property type and neighbourhood, or a group of apartments and villas across several coastal areas? That price band can still contain very different homes. I’d also want to know whether the target is vacant or occupied, what renovation is actually required, and whether the proposed rental yield uses the current tenancy position or an assumed future rent.
 
If renovation is treated as the whole explanation, a buyer could misread both the seller’s position and the likely discount. Better-presented homes may be moving because they were sensibly priced from the start, or because financed buyers do not need to reserve cash for immediate work.

A dated property is not necessarily weak stock if its price already reflects the disruption and cost involved. I would compare the target with recent completed sales of similar condition, then note when any reductions occurred and how many close alternatives were newly listed at the same time. Several substitutes appearing together can create more negotiating pressure than the headline 115 days.
 
A practical way to assess it is to make three small groups: completed comparable sales, active direct competitors, and withdrawn listings. Record original ask, each reduction date, days advertised, condition and occupancy. Don’t blend withdrawn stock into completed results. If reductions only started recently, the seller may still be testing the market despite the headline 115 days.
 
Also be careful when comparing a final registered price with an old advertisement. The visible history may not capture everything included or excluded from the deal, so the apparent discount can mislead. For yield, I would calculate from the price you expect to pay and use clearly stated rental assumptions rather than treating an agent’s headline percentage as comparable across properties.
 
Maria, do you know when the first meaningful price cut happened? That could tell you more than the original listing date. And would your offer depend on financing? A seller may weigh certainty and timing alongside price, so two identical offers on paper are not necessarily equally attractive.
 
Thanks all. The AED 2,349,000–AED 3,523,000 range covers several coastal listings rather than one building, which is probably making my 115-day observation too broad. I’ll narrow it to the same building or immediate cluster and separate renovated, dated, occupied and vacant homes. I also take the point that a relisted or withdrawn property shouldn’t be treated as continuously available.
 
That narrower approach should help, but define the neighbourhood boundary before collecting examples. “Coastal” can put homes with different access, outlook and buyer pools into one basket. Start with the same building, then expand only when you cannot find enough relevant completed sales. When expanding, note exactly which feature made you accept each property as comparable.
 
For the negotiation itself, I’d avoid saying only that it has been listed for 115 days. Tie the offer to specific costs or differences: dated condition, occupancy constraints, or a lower completed comparable nearby. Ask what completion timing the seller wants before setting terms. A motivated seller may respond to a clean proposal; an anchored seller may simply wait through another reduction cycle.
 
There is a counterpoint: a long listing period sometimes shows that the seller is perfectly willing to wait. Repeated small reductions do not automatically mean the next offer will be accepted. Buyer financing can create negotiating room if competing interest is less certain, but only if the buyer’s own timeline and funding position are credible.
 
I’d keep a separate note for evidence quality. A completed transaction is strongest for price, an active listing shows current competition, and a withdrawn advertisement mainly shows that an asking price failed to produce a visible sale. Mixing those categories can create an artificial discount story. It may also help to mark whether each rental figure is actual, requested or merely projected.
 
The sensible next step seems to be a building-level shortlist rather than a market-wide conclusion. For each candidate, compare recent completed prices, current competing stock, reduction timing, condition, occupancy, rental assumptions and your financing timetable. Then set an offer range for that individual property. The 115 days can support the conversation, but it should not determine the number on its own.
 
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