Transfer fee real estate arrangements in Dubai have recently changed after the property market experienced numerous turbulent years. Back in 2012, buyers were placing deposits on properties before seeing them, often off-plan. Prices were increasing on an almost daily basis as investors were flipping properties as many as three or four times in as many months. Since then, efforts have been made to cool an overheating market.
The main effort to stabilise the market before a runaway crash developed was to institute further real estate transfer, sales and purchase fees. For sales, property transfer and registration, fees were doubled from 2% to 4% back in November 2013. At the same time, a mortgage cap of 75% was brought in. This stopped buyers borrowing more than 75% against the value of a property. Buyers now must pay a 25% deposit, as well as the 4% in property transfer fees; and additionally, agency fees of 2% and brokers’ commission rates. This particularly impacted on sales of villas. New restrictions were also placed on using a Power of Attorney (‘POA’), which now be specific to a particular property. An agent holding a POA is also not now permitted to receive sale funds on a client's behalf; payment must be made as per the name registered on the title deeds. Transfer fees for off-plan sales were also reset to 8%. This was to dissuade owners from flipping properties or selling via a POA; preventing owners passing on a POA to a buyer without registering the property and paying the 4% registration fees due to the Dubai Land Department.
These measures have successfully slowed the Dubai property market to sustainable levels. At Seal Real Estate Registration Trustee, our role is to help buyers and sellers manage their responsibilities, such as transfer fee real estate payments. See what we can do for you at http://www.sealra.com/. Connect with us at info@sealra.com or call us today on +971 436 17 776.