Ready homes gain favour in Dubai

Around 7,205 ready apartments changed hands during the January to July period in Dubai.

Demand remains sluggish for off-plan property in Dubai. The emirate registered off-plan sales worth Dh14.06 billion in the first seven months of 2018, a 30 per cent decline from Dh20.02 billion in the same period last year, according to data by GCP-Reidin. Around 10,759 off-plan units were sold in Dubai for the first seven months, a 25 per cent decline from last year's 14,330 deals during the same period. Approximately 1,224 off-plan units were sold in the month of July alone.

May was the first time this year that monthly off-plan sales topped the 2,000 unit mark. In comparison, that mark was crossed four times in the first seven months of 2017.

This can be attributed to how demand has tapered for off-plan launches, with developers exhausting all the incentives at their disposal to prop up sales.

Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) accounted for the highest number of off-plan sales, accounting for 999 units. Town Square, Dubai World Central, Dubai Creek Harbour and Dubai Marina also had strong numbers to show off.

On the ready property side, 7,205 ready apartments changed hands in the January to July period across Dubai, down six per cent from the 7,649 sold last year. Ready property sales were worth Dh12.38 billion up to the end of July this year, a reduction of eight per cent from Dh13.5 billion in the same period last year.

This reflects the gradual reallocation of capital towards ready properties versus off-plan projects.

Dubai Sports City was the top pick in the ready space. Sports City is the only apartment cluster to record a gain in sales compared with a year ago - 581 ready units were sold compared to 467 recorded in the same period last year.

"The highlight in the ready space remains Sports City, which is up significantly both on a volume and a value basis," said Hussain Alladin, head of IR and research at Global Capital Partners.

Downtown also witnessed signs of renewed interest for completed projects, with 344 units sold in the first seven months compared to 365 last year.

This was followed by Dubai Marina, JVC and International City. Motor City, International Media Production Zone and Discovery Gardens, however, saw a significant dip in sales in the ready space, according to GCP-Reidin data.

Meanwhile, among villas, communities like Arabian Ranches, Jumeirah Islands and the Springs and Meadows saw a pick-up in demand in the first seven months of 2018. This is despite new communities coming up such as Mira and Mudon.

The Palm Jumeirah has been seeing a decline in both the volume and value of ready transactions year to date.

"Dubai real estate is like a barbell shape - top heavy and bottom heavy and nothing in the middle. Where you see middle class demand in areas like Sports City, there has been a sustained increase in values and volumes this year," added Alladin.

- deepthi@khaleejtimes.com

Deepthi Nair

deepthi@khaleejtimes.com