* UAE releases first-ever monthly inflation data
* Prices fall 2.7 pct in 4 months, housing costs drop 5 pct
* Annual inflation of 4.9 pct from Jan-April (Recasts, adds details, analyst)
By Daliah Merzaban
DUBAI, June 3 (Reuters) - Consumer prices in the United Arab Emirates fell 2.7 percent between January and April, reflecting a drop in housing costs in a declining property market, the Gulf state's first-ever monthly inflation data showed on Wednesday.
The consumer price index of the second-largest Arab economy stood at 113.07 points at the end of April compared with 116.18 points at the end of January, the Ministry of Economy said in a statement.
The decline was due mainly to a 5 percent drop in the housing index over the period to 113.01 points in April compared with 118.94 points in January.
"This gives us a good sense that for the year as a whole you could have deflation, and it is being driven by a sharp fall in rents," said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
The UAE has until now released inflation data only once a year, typically months after the year ends.
Rising house prices were one of the drivers of inflation in the UAE in recent years and price rises peaking at a 20-year high of 12.3 percent in 2008, the ministry said.
Annual inflation in the UAE stood at 4.94 percent in the first four months compared with the year earlier, the ministry said, without giving a month-by-month annual breakdown.
Food and beverage costs rose an annual 4.84 percent while housing costs advanced 4.99 percent, it said.
Real estate prices are slumping in the UAE, particularly in the emirate of Dubai, where residential real estate prices fell an average 41 percent in the first three months of the year, according to data of property consultants Colliers.
Dubai rents have also fallen sharply. Landmark Advisory, a property consultancy, said last month rents fell as much as 50 percent in some areas in Dubai from peaks late last year. (Editing by Jan Dahinten)