People working in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain are increasingly looking to reside in Buraimi, property agents say. As a result, rental prices in the city, which lies adjacent to Al Ain on the Omani side of the border, are going up and vacant homes are becoming scarce.
Of 10 Buraimi property agents visited last week, only two had apartments or villas available for rent. The agents said most homes had been rented to Emiratis, other GCC citizens and expatriates working in the UAE, a national daily reported.
''Look around when you drive and you will see as many Abu Dhabi licence plates on cars as you do Omani ones,'' said a real estate official in Buraimi. He expects the rents to remain 30 per cent higher on average than they were two years ago if the border remains open.
A newly built three-bedroom villa with living room, dining room, three bathrooms, a large kitchen and garden rents for Dh36,000 a year on average, according to real estate listings. A year ago it would have rented for less than Dh20,000. By comparison, a similar size villa in Al Ain rents for at least Dh80,000, and in Abu Dhabi the price would be at least Dh200,000.
Vani Bhagavath, of Oman Homes, said rents had risen by 25 per cent in the past year, ''a direct result of the high demand being put on the Buraimi real estate market by those coming from the UAE to live in Oman''.
The people do not seem to mind the long drive, an hour to Dubai and two hours to Abu Dhabi. Some even find it worthwhile to purchase, rather than rent, accommodation in Oman.
''I bought my five bedroom villa in Buraimi a little over five years ago for Dh180,000,'' said Saeed al Nuami, 32, an Emirati holding a government job in Abu Dhabi. ''A villa of the same size in Abu Dhabi or Dubai would cost me over Dh1.5 million to buy,'' he said.