Dubai’s property market is facing a critical supply mismatch as the number of completed units is unable to keep pace with the rising population, according to market experts.
Dubai’s population growth is outpacing the pace of new housing delivery. The city’s population grew 4.47 per cent year-on-year, reaching 4.03 million residents as of October 2025 - an average of roughly 470 new residents a day, according to Springfield Properties.
This demographic acceleration, driven by long-term visa reforms and strong inbound employment, translates into demand for nearly 150 new homes daily, said Farooq Syed, chief executive of Springfield Properties. Yet, only about 44,000 units are expected to be delivered in 2025. Most of the new supply consists of apartments, while family-orientated villas and town houses remain limited, he added.
While developers are launching projects at an unprecedented rate, a widening gap between announced launches and actual completions, coupled with a heavy focus on apartments, is signalling the possibility of an oversupply in the high-density sector and shrinking availability of villas and town houses, real estate agency Allsopp & Allsopp said in a new report.
In 2024, developers in Dubai launched 154,145 units, yet only 34,165 were completed, meaning 22 per cent of the total launched were delivered. In 2025, 152,402 units have been launched in the year-to-date and only 31,437 units completed so far, representing around 21 per cent of total launches, the data showed.
“An increase in apartment supply isn’t inherently negative, it’s actually essential to a balanced market,” said Lewis Allsopp, chairman of Allsopp & Allsopp. “Apartments cater to singles, couples, young families, first-time buyers and investors - the very buyers who need an accessible entry point into Dubai real estate.”
Fifty years ago, Dubai’s population was 175,000, so the new total of four million represents an increase of 2,185 per cent since 1975. The emirate’s population reached two million on December 24, 2011, meaning it has doubled in less than 15 years.
The city’s population has experienced its most noticeable growth since the coronavirus pandemic, with the emirate increasingly being considered a haven for global millionaires. Strong demand has come from the UK, India, Russia, South-east Asia and Africa.
The emirate is recording a surge in people from the UK, which is forecast to lose 16,500 millionaires this year. This is the largest net outflow of high-net-worth individuals by any country in the past 10 years.
The number of millionaires living in Dubai has doubled in the past decade, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing wealth centres, a report by New World Wealth for Henley & Partners found in April.
In 2024, Dubai had an estimated 81,200 millionaires, 237 centimillionaires – whose wealth is in the hundreds of millions – and 20 billionaires, according to the report. That compares to 72,500 millionaires, 212 centimillionaires and 15 billionaires in 2023.
Gap between launches and delivery
The gap between project launches and handovers has widened considerably in Dubai. In the first half of 2025, developers registered 90,337 new real estate units valued at Dh151 billion ($41.1 billion). Yet only 24 projects, worth Dh4.5 billion, were completed during the same period, Mr Syed said.
“This means that fewer than one in five newly registered units reached completion within that time frame. Market data further indicates that while more than 61,800 units are currently under construction for delivery in 2025, only 21 per cent of projects scheduled for the year have achieved 75 per cent or more construction progress – underscoring a widening delivery lag,” he said.
“Many large-scale developments have handover timelines extending into the latter half of the decade, with full completion for some masterplans expected beyond 2027.”
As of 2025, the construction pipeline includes 61,800 units scheduled for delivery this year and more than 100,000 units projected for 2026–2027, he added.
Focus on apartments
Developers are focusing on high-density apartment projects, which could tilt the market further towards saturation in the coming years. Of the 152,402 units launched in 2025 so far, 89 per cent were apartments, with just 11 per cent dedicated to villas and town houses, according to the Allsopp & Allsopp report.
Given that new launches are skewing so heavily towards apartments, the numbers suggest there is a risk of a continued shortage of villas and town houses, which are typically the best suited options to growing families and longer‑term residents, the research note said.
Currently, areas such as Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), Townsquare, Damac Hills, Arjan and Studio City have particularly high apartment supply, the report found.
“Developers are prioritising high-density projects that can be built and sold faster and offer lower entry points for investors. However, this has created a supply bias away from family-orientated housing,” Mr Syed said.
“The imbalance is reflected in values: villa prices in key communities have risen up to 11 per cent in 2025 and now sit 66 per cent above 2014 levels. Villas and town houses represent 33 per cent of rental transactions but generate 58 per cent of total rental value, demonstrating how scarcity in larger family homes is pushing rents and prices up faster than the broader market.”
He added that this imbalance has created a “two-tier market”: apartments absorb short-term population growth and investor activity, while villas and town houses increasingly serve a premium end-user segment that faces limited choice and higher entry prices.
Communities such as Dubai Hills Estate, Al Barari and Jumeirah Islands continue to experience elevated demand from families seeking larger homes, while areas like JVC and Arjan absorb the bulk of apartment sales activity, Mr Syed informed.
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The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
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Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
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