Dubai property sales value hits 4-year high of Dh11.11bn in May

Originally published on Jun 13, 2021 | The National

Dubai’s property sales transaction value hit a four-year high of Dh11.11 billion ($3.02bn) in May as the economy continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to listings portal Property Finder.

This is the highest value of monthly property transactions recorded by the emirate since March 2017, Property Finder said on Tuesday.

“One indication that Dubai’s real estate market has rebounded is that the average transaction value for a single property has increased 16.77 per cent for villa/townhouses and 17.18 per cent for apartments in one year,” Lynnette Sacchetto, director of research and data at Property Finder, said.

The UAE's property market, which softened in the wake of a three-year oil price slump that began in 2014 and on oversupply concerns, is showing signs of a revival as homebound users look to upgrade to larger spaces amid a remote working and learning trend due to the pandemic.

Economic support measures and government initiatives, including visas for expatriate retirees, remote workers and the expansion of the 10-year golden visa scheme, have also helped to improve sentiment.

Total property transactions in May rose 205 per cent year-on-year to 4,429, while sales grew 324 per cent, according to the listings portal.

“When looking over the past few years, we have not only seen increases since 2020 but from 2019 as well,” Ms Sacchetto said. “To put things further into perspective, we have seen a 36.5 per cent increase in the total volume of sales transactions and a whopping 83.8 per cent increase in the total value of sales transactions when comparing May 2021 to May 2019.”

In May 2021, 62 per cent of all transactions were for secondary or ready properties and 38 per cent were for off-plan properties, according to Property Finder. The off-plan market transacted 1,674 properties worth a total of Dh2.58bn during the month and the secondary market saw 2,755 property transactions worth Dh8.53bn.

The top areas of interest in terms of searches for villas/townhouses in May 2021 were Dubai Hills Estate, Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah, Damac Hills and Mohammed bin Rashid City. The top areas of interest for apartments were Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay and Jumeirah Village Circle.

Emaar Properties, Dubai’s biggest listed property developer, also recorded higher property sales in the first five months of 2021, with total property sales climbing 250 per cent to Dh10.5bn, it said this week.

In the first quarter, apartment prices in Dubai increased 3 per cent on a quarterly basis, while prices of villas jumped 6 per cent during the period, according to a recent report from Asteco. On an annual basis, prices dropped 2 per cent but villa prices increased 3 per cent.