Dubai Real Estate Market Deals Increase 47.7% in May

Dubai real estate market set new records in May with sales transaction of 17,139 — a 47.7% increase month-on-month and a 45.9% rise compared to the same month last year, according to Property Monitor, the UAE’s leading real estate technology and market intelligence provider.

In its Monthly Market Report for May 2024, Property Monitor said that this surge surpassed the previous record set in April 2009 by over 20%. Price appreciation moderated, showing a sub-1% growth with average property prices reaching $370.27 per sq ft.

The market witnessed robust activity across all segments, with a notable rise in mortgage transactions, which increased by nearly 58% month-on-month. New off-plan project launches also reached an all-time high, adding over 15,500 units to the market, reflecting strong investor confidence.

Residential transactions, including apartments, townhouses, and villas, dominated the market, accounting for 92.8% (10,659) of total sales. The highest transacted commercial property types were hotel apartments (2.6%), office spaces (1.9%), and retail units (1.4%), the report showed.

Emaar Properties led off-plan sales, followed by Sobha and Azizi Developments. Jumeirah Village Circle and Ras Al Khor were top locations for initial sales, while Jumeirah Village Circle, Business Bay, and Dubai Marina were prominent in the resale market.

Investor activity being heavily skewed towards off-plan projects, while residents were largely split between the off-plan and ready property segments, with many opting for an off-plan project due to lack of affordable inventory for sale, coupled with a white hot rental market that saw rental prices more than double in some communities were post-pandemic.

The report said that as many as 10,598 off-plan Oqood transactions were recorded, a monumental increase of 47.1% from the previous month yet a negligible 0.2% slide in market share to 61.8% last month. The Title Deed sale volumes also witnessed a similarly impressive increase, growing by 48.6% and now accounting for 38.2% of all sales transactions.

While Oqood transactions are generally used to measure the off-plan market, several villa and townhouse sales are presented in the Dubai Land Department data as being issued with Title Deeds and as completed properties— instead of being under construction and sold off-plan. After adjusting for this technicality, off-plan transactions secure an even larger market share of 66.7%.

Off-Plan Projects

New off-plan development project launches surged to reach record highs, with just over 15,500 off-plan units added to the market for sale with an anticipated combined gross sales value of around $11.27 billion.

This set a new record for the highest number of units launched in a single month with apartments representing 75.1% by volume of this new inventory. The remaining 24.9% was for single-family units—townhouses 19.4% and villas 5.5%—almost double their year-to-date market share of 12.6% and led by launches in new master communities of Athlon by Aldar, Riverside by DAMAC, and Palmiera 2 by Emaar.

Year-to-date, new project launches have exceeded just over 59,500 units and are well on track to surpass last year’s 96,000 units. Gauging by recent land acquisition and project planning activities, there are new opportunities across various pricing segments in a variety of communities, such as Meydan Horizon, Jumeirah Garden City, The Valley, and Motor City.