Existing Property Transactions Sustain Momentum: Property Finder

Abu Dhabi property transactions witnessed recorded spikes while Dubai sustained a growing interest for both existing and off-plan properties during the first quarter of this year, Property Finder, MENA’s leading property portal, said in a report.

Unlike Q1 of 2023 where off-plan transactions soared high, Q1-2024 has opened up to a strong demand for existing projects across both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Property Finder’s key data from Market Watch digest report for Q1 of 2024 showed.

Abu Dhabi recorded 814 residential transactions in the first quarter of this year representing around 38% of the total transactions compared to 628 transactions that contributed to 27% of the total transactions in Q1 of 2023. This was a notable growth of 30% from Q1 2023

Existing and Ready Transactions         

By reaching $470 million, the existing/ready transaction value in Q1 of 2024 contributed to 29% of the total sales transactions value compared to 27% in Q1 of 2023.

In Dubai, the existing/ready market registered almost 19,600 transactions in the first quarter, increasing its market share to 54% of the total transactions compared with around 15,000 transactions, which contributed 48% of the total transactions in Q1 of 2023.

This performance witnessed a notable volume growth of 30% compared to Q1 of 2023. By reaching $21.29 billion, transaction values in Q1 of 2024 contributed to 68% of the existing sales transaction value, compared to 60% in Q1-2023. Consequently, the existing/ready transaction value witnessed a significant increase of 46% compared to $14.60 billion in Q1 of 2023.

Moderate Fluctuations

The report also said that off-plan properties continued to support evolution within the sector across both Emirates, albeit with a few noteworthy fluctuations reshaping the market trajectory for 2024.

In Abu Dhabi, the off-plan market registered around 1,331 residential off-plan sales transactions in Q1-2024 compared with 1,658 transactions in Q1-2023 representing 62% of the total transactions compared with 73% of the total transactions in Q1-2023, recording a significant year-on-year decline of -20% in terms of volume.

The off-plan sales transaction value in Q1-2024 reached $1.17 billion contributing to 71% of the total sales transactions value. There was a significant decrease of -20% compared to Q1 2023 when the total off-plan sales transactions value was $1.45 billion contributing to 73% of the total value.

Coming to Dubai, there were around 16,600 off-plan sales transactions compared to 16,000 transactions in Q1-2023, representing 46% of the total transaction volume compared to 52% of the total transactions in Q1-2023.

Consequently, the off-plan transactions recorded a slight increase year-on-year surge of 4% in terms of volume. The off-plan sales transaction value in Q1 of 2024 reached $10.8 billion, contributing 32% of the total sales transaction value, recording a 5% increase compared to Q1-2023, when the total sales transaction value was $9.67 billion, contributing 40% of the total value.