Dubai continues to show record-breaking numbers in the real estate sector. Property Finder has revealed that in January 2023, the number of real estate sales transactions reached 9,800 which is a 128.5% increase in comparison to 5,739 reached in January 2022.
At the same time, the value of transactions has also seen a significant growth with over AED 28B (USD 7.6B) – a 178% year-on-year surge. In January, there was the highest monthly volume and value for existing property transactions in the last decade. The value showed about a 42% growth of over AED 16B (USD 4.4B) in comparison to January 2022 with AED 11.4B (USD 3.1B).
As Scott Bond, the UAE country manager at Property Finder, believes, a high demand for properties and a growing inclination towards ownership may lead to a high rise in property investment in the coming months. He said that the beginning of 2023 was a great start, continuing on from last year and showing the resilience of the Dubai property market, as well as a positive outlook for the real estate sector of the emirate.
According to Property Finder, 59% of people looking for properties prefer apartments, while the remaining 41% are in search of villas or townhouses. As for tenants, 80% are interested in apartments, while villas and townhouses attract 20%.
Furthermore, 46% of people prefer furnished properties, while 54% choose unfurnished ones. In the rental segment, 66% of tenants opt for furnished units while 34% choose unfurnished ones.
The most popular properties to obtain are 1-bedroom units, representing 41% of the whole market demand, followed by 2-bedroom units. The majority of tenants (54%) are also interested in 1-bedroom residences.
It’s worth noting that both off-plan and existing properties were in demand in January 2023. Thus, a 56% year-on-year increase in ready-to-move-in transactions was seen, with a total number of over 4,800 transactions. As for off-plan properties, a 90% growth was registered, with a total number of 5,000 transactions, while in January 2022 this number was 3,086. Moreover, a significant 130% growth worth over AED 12.1B (USD 3.3B) in terms of off-plan properties value was achieved, while in the same period during the previous year the value was AED 5.3B (USD 1.4B).
Among the top searched for areas for apartments were Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, Dubai Hills Estate and Jumeirah Village Circle, while DAMAC Hills and Arabian Ranches were popular among those looking for townhouses and villas.
In 2022 the value of off-plan transactions reached 44% of all transactions. There is no doubt that 2023 will bring a range of interesting projects. Among the properties which have been recently launched and have already attracted the attention of the public are North 43, Viewz by Danube and DAMAC Bay by Cavalli.