Dubai apartment owners continue to benefit from solid rental yields, especially in more affordable developments, says property agency Chestertons MENA.

Its latest residential market report for Dubai showed rental yields of 10.2 percent for apartments in Discovery Gardens, 9.4 percent in International City and 7.9 percent in Dubai Silicon Oasis, while apartments returned 7.5 per cent gross yield across the board on average.

Generally, apartments provide a higher average yield than villas and especially those in the more affordable developments.

In terms of villa yields, the average across Dubai was 4.8 per cent, but the stand out performers were The Springs (6.4 per cent), Jumeirah Village Triangle (5.9 per cent) closely followed by Victory Heights (5.8 per cent).

Declan McNaughton managing director UAE, Chestertons MENA, said this bodes well for the developers of upcoming projects in Dubai fitting this more affordable apartment category.

McNaughton said the resilient performance in apartment yields was all the more impressive given rental rates during Q2 were down on average 0.95 per cent while sales prices were up 0.7 per cent on average squeezing margins.

During the second quarter of the year, a one-bedroom apartment now leases for Dh58,000 per annum. At the top end of the market, a one-bed unit in DIFC rents for an average of Dh115,000 per annum, while a similar property in Dubai Marina rents for Dh80,000 per annum.