EXPO 2020 helps Dubai’s Real Estate Market Grow By Leaps And Bounds

According to statistics, 17,942 transactions worth $12.73 billion were recorded during Q4 of 2021, signalling a growth of 12.7% cent on Q-o-Q basis and 63.2% Y-o-Y basis as compared to Q4 of 2020. Both, the volume and value of transactions are said to be highest since Q4 of 2013 mainly due to Expo 2020 Dubai.

According to Dubai-based Zoom Property Insights, this upward trend will continue even after Expo 2020 is over. Both the ready and off-plan properties will remain high in demand in key areas as more foreign investors are expected to foray into the property market.

Expo 2020’s Impact

James Hatton, Managing Director at Elysian Real Estate, said the impact of Expo 2020 would be for long-term.  “Ultimately, if we are looking at long-term factors of Expo 2020, I do feel it’s going to be very positive. How could they not leverage such a large audience and a lot of people coming into town,” he said. 

Hatton also said that there was a notable increase in the number of leads the company received since the Expo began in October.

Quoting Simon Baker, Managing Director at Haus & Haus, Zoom Property said that the government initiatives, such as the golden visa, easy business set-up facilities, etc., contributed to the growth of the Dubai property market.

“Expo 2020 has a really positive effect on Dubai’s real estate sector. It’s a contributing factor along with lots of initiatives and the way government has handled the pandemic very well,” Baker said.

Ata Shobeiry, CEO at Zoom Property, is also of the view that Expo 2020 is impacting the property market and other sectors of Dubai in a very positive way.

“While the government initiatives and an efficient vaccination drive have helped the recovery of the property market, the role Expo 2020 played cannot be denied,” Shobeiry said.

“Expo is bringing a huge number of people to Dubai and introducing them with its upscale lifestyle, safe environment, and potential to make huge earnings. The impact is certainly going to last longer as the Expo site will be converted into District 2020 while retaining most of its infrastructure and resources. It will attract more investment from foreign investors,” he added.

Amidst all safety measures, Expo 2020 Dubai welcomed more than eight million visitors towards the end of December 2021. The numbers are expected to rise significantly as the global fair will be open till March/April this year.

Luxury Homes Sales Up

In another report, Dubai-based International Realty firm Luxhabitat Sotheby’s said the number of sales of luxury homes in Dubai rose by 5.27%, compared with the previous quarter of the same year.  The residential market also saw an increase in prices by 41%, with an average price of prime property at $610,000. 

The Dubai prime residential market areas used for the analysis included Al Barari, Arabian Ranches, Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Emirates Living, Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Mohammed bin Rashid City, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Palm Jumeirah. 

The top 3 areas in terms of sales volume were Palm Jumeirah ($930 million), Downtown Dubai ($870 million) and Business Bay ($680 million). 

In the prime residential market, the Al Barari area showed the highest growth of sales from $33.21 million to $101.55 million (owing to new launches), followed by Jumeirah ($33.21 million to $101.28 million) and Arabian Ranches 1 ($47.92 million to $123.06 million).