Dubai real estate retains its appeal with record transactions in Q1

Dubai real estate retained its appeal as investors and residents continued to pour money into the emirate to buy a villa or apartment as reflected in the latest official data released on Tuesday.

The emirate recorded 25,972 transactions in the first quarter of 2022, marking it the highest number of deals since 2010 in a single quarter and the highest volume since the first quarter of 2014. It registered 20,539 sales deals worth Dh55.51 billion during the January-March quarter, according to Mo’asher, Dubai’s official sales and rental performance index that was launched by the Dubai Land Department (DLD) in cooperation with Property Finder.

The off-plan market transacted 8,616 properties worth a total of Dh16.12 billion while the secondary market transacted 11,923 properties worth Dh39.39 billion during the quarter.

Highest sales deals in March

In March, Dubai real estate had 8,399 sales transactions worth Dh22.58 billion, indicating the highest sales deals in the past seven years. This is an 83 per cent increase in total sales transactions compared to March 2021 and a 109 per cent increase in sales value. About 60.16 per cent of total sales in March were for secondary or ready properties.

Ata Shobeiry, chief executive of Zoom Property, said it’s certainly a huge sign of progress for the Dubai property market as it recorded the highest-ever transactions in a single quarter for over a decade.

“The second quarter, despite the culmination of Expo 2020, is expected to continue the upward trajectory. I believe apartments will cover their lost ground, while the villa segment will continue its high momentum during the subsequent quarters,” Shobeiry told Khaleej Times on Tuesday.

Rental market grows

For rental market, the emirate recorded a total of 160,530 contracts, of which 51.89 per cent were new and 48.1 per cent renewals, reflecting a four per cent increase in total contract volume compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. The annual contracts during the January-March quarter were 79.95 per cent while non-annual contracts accounted for 20.04 per cent.

In March, the sector saw over 44,783 rental contracts in the Dubai market with 60.28 per cent of contracts were new and 39.72 per cent were renewals; 78 per cent belonged to annual contracts and 21 per cent were driven by non-annual agreements.

The most popular apartments rental contracts were for one-bedroom apartments followed by two-bedroom apartments while the most popular villa or townhouse rental contracts were for three bedrooms and four bedrooms, according to Property Finder data.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com