Dubai records more than $690m in property transactions on first working Friday

The value of property transactions in Dubai on the first Friday of the new working week in the UAE stood at more than Dh2.53 billion ($690 million), with 227 transactions.

The total value of property transactions recorded in the first week of the year surpassed Dh7.24bn, with 1,766 transactions, the Dubai Media Office said.

Data from the Dubai Land Department showed that the first working Friday included 173 sales transactions worth Dh2.38bn – 12 of which were land plots worth Dh451.16m and 161 were apartments and villas valued at Dh1.93bn, officials said on Friday.

The UAE government announced the shift to a Monday-Friday working week on December 7. Public sector workers at the ministerial level have moved to a four-and-half-day working week, with Friday being a half day.

Private companies are free to decide whether they will adopt the new working week but many businesses have already committed to the switch.

The property market in the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, has made a strong recovery from the pandemic-driven slowdown on the back of the government's fiscal and monetary measures.

Pent-up demand and improved investor sentiment have also helped to drive property sales, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, amid the pick-up in economic activity.

Last year, there were 84,772 property transactions worth Dh300bn in Dubai, the emirate's land department reported.