Dubai property sales transactions hit 4-year high of Dh10.97bn in April

The value of Dubai’s property sales transactions in April hit a four-year high of Dh10.97 billion, according to listings portal Property Finder. This is the highest value of monthly property transactions since March 2017.

Seventy per cent of transactions in April were valued up to Dh2 million, while 23 per cent were between Dh2m to Dh5m, 4 per cent were between Dh5m to Dh10m and 3 per cent more than Dh10m, Property Finder said on Thursday. Dubai has registered a total of 16,577 property transactions worth Dh36.12bn since the start of 2021, it added.

The UAE's property market slowed in the wake of oversupply and a three-year oil price shake-up that began in 2014. The coronavirus-induced economic slowdown further pressured the market in 2020.

However, new programmes such as visas for expatriate retirees and the expansion of the 10-year golden visa scheme to attract foreign professionals to settle in the Emirates are expected to support the real estate market.

“The dynamics in the residential real estate market in 2021 have been interesting thus far,” Lynnette Abad Sacchetto, director of research and data at Property Finder, said.

“In April alone, we have seen six villa transactions [valued at] more than Dh50m, with one on the Palm Jumeirah recorded as the second-highest villa transaction in 2021 worth Dh105m.”

A report by real estate consultancy ValuStrat this week said Dubai registered the highest recorded number of home sales transactions in the first quarter of 2021 since 2010.

In April, 60 per cent of all real estate transactions in Dubai were for secondary/ready properties and 40 per cent were for off-plan properties, according to Property Finder.

In the Dubai off-plan market, 1,934 properties worth Dh3.09bn were sold in April, while 2,898 properties worth Dh7.89bn were sold in the secondary market.

Off-plan transactions in April increased 12.9 per cent compared with March, its highest rise in 14 months. However, secondary/ready property transactions edged down 0.92 per cent, marking the sector's first drop in 11 months, Property Finder said.

“In the past few months, we have seen the highest amount of off-plan transactions month-on-month since February 2020 as the sector seems to be picking up again,” Ms Sacchetto said.

“Developers are attracting foreign investors with attractive pricing schemes and capitalising on the new visa regulations to attract foreign direct investment.”

Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid City recorded the most transactions in a single community in April. This was followed by Jumeirah Village Circle, which accounted for 5.8 per cent of all transactions, and Dubai Marina with 5.6 per cent, Property Finder said.

Business Bay, which has dominated the top two spots for the most number of monthly sales in a community over the past year, fell from 7.2 per cent of total transactions in a single month to 3.5 per cent in April.

In the villa/townhouse market, Mohammed bin Rashid City accounted for 18.5 per cent of all sales in April, followed by Dubailand (10.3 per cent), Dubai Hills Estate (9.4 per cent), Rukan (5 per cent) and Town Square (4.9 per cent).

In a report released in April, Property Finder said sales of ready villas and townhouses in Dubai jumped more than three-fold in the first quarter of the year as residents upgraded to bigger homes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In the apartment market, Dubai Marina accounted for 8.5 per cent of all sales transactions in April, followed by JVC (8.4 per cent), Jumeirah Lakes Towers (7.6 per cent), Downtown Dubai (7.3 per cent) and Business Bay (5.4 per cent).

“When looking at the mortgage transaction data, we have seen that April, March and January of 2021 had the highest number of monthly transactions since March 2010,” Ms Sacchetto added.