How big is your house? – The UAE case

Apartment and villa size ranges provided by REIDIN.com, gives us an opportunity to compare the differences between 2011 and 2012.

It is very difficult to talk about the ideal dwelling space per person universally, considering  cultural and geographic differences… How much home space does a person actually need? If you are living in Tokyo, the average is quite low due to intense population; if you are a US resident, you may have access to much more land compared to people in Japan, thus, larger homes. The size of a person or family’s house may vary due to economical, cultural and geographical aspects alltogether. 

As REIDIN.com, we have gathered our data to see how residence sizes are distributed in the UAE, and what has changed between 2011 and 2012.  Behind the numbers, we can take a glimpse of what is changing in everyday life…

Abu Dhabi – Smaller apartments and larger villas

When we compare the apartment size ranges in 2011 and 2012 in Abu Dhabi, we can see that smaller apartments have become more popular / preferable: Whereas  the most observed size range in 2011 was “1000 – 1500 SqFt”  with a 31,63% ratio; in 2012, it has lost one grade and decreased to 26,98%, leaving the first seat to “500 – 1000 SqFt” apartments which have been measured as 31,87%. 

When we take a look at villas, however, we can observe a trend towards the opposite direction: As the most observed size range in villas for 2011 was “2000 – 3000 SqFt” with 31,75%, in 2012 it has decreased to 28,49%, the first place to be taken over by “3000 – 4000 SqFt” with a ratio of 32,44%.

If you check the graphics, you can see that the size range of smaller villas have become smaller and  larger villas have become larger, leaving out only the largest villas, which seem to be a minority.

Dubai  – Larger apartments and smaller villas

Interestingly, Dubai seems to demonstrate the opposite trend when compared to Abu Dhabi.

When we inspect the numbers, we can see that the most observed size range in apartments has changed in favor of the larger ones: Whereas in 2011 the most observed size range was “500 – 1000 SqFt” with a percentage of 30,28; in 2012 it has been taken over by “1000 – 1500 SqFt” apartments with 31,18%. It is clear in the graphic below that while smaller apartments have decreased in percentage and larger ones have increased, without an exception.

And the size range distribution of villas, on the contrary, seem to have changed in favor of the smaller ones. Altough the most observed size range hasn’t changed in 2011 and 2012, the ratio has: In 2011, the size range “5000 – 7000 SqFt” was the most observed with a ratio of 32,18%, to be decreased to 25,31% in 2012. When following the numbers, you can see that there has been an increase in the percentage of smaller villas and a decrease  in larger ones in general.

To explore more about the issue, please visit REIDIN.com.