Dubai has seen “record levels” of demand in residential spaces, with transaction volumes reaching 8,515 in February 2023, according to a report by CBRE.
This showed a 43.8 percent increase from the previous year, also making it the highest February figure, the report said.
“This growth has been underpinned by a 78.1 percent increase in off-plan market sales, along with an 18.8 percent increase in secondary market sales. 17,741 residential transactions have been recorded in the year to date to February 2023, the most on record during the first two months of the year,” the report said.
Average apartment prices rose by 11.2 percent, whereas average villa prices grew by 13.6 percent.
In February 2023, the report also noted that the average apartment prices in Dubai reach AED1,211 per square foot, whereas prices for villas reached AED1,432 per square foot on an average.
These average rates still sit below the highs witnessed in late 2014, with apartments and villas remaining 18.6 percent and 0.9 percent below this peak respectively, the report said, adding that many communities have already surpassed 2014 figures.
Apartments in Jumeirah saw the highest sales per square foot reaching AED2,388. As for villas, Palm Jumeirah registered the highest sales per square foot, reaching AED4,300.
Dubai’s rental market
Palm Jumeirah also recorded the highest rental rates for both apartments and villas, with average annual rents reaching AED260,467 and AED1,017,614, respectively, as of February 2023, the report said.
“We have seen rental rates growing by an average of 27.7 percent in the year through February 2023. As a result, we have seen that tenants are more likely to renew their existing leases; where based on Ejari figures, the number of new registrations year-on-year in the year to date to February 2023 has decreased by 13.0 percent, whilst the number of renewals has grown by 30.7 percent,” Taimur Khan, Head of Research – MENA at CBRE in Dubai said.
Like Khan said, the report noted that Dubai’s rental market has seen a significant increase of 27.7 percent in average rents from the previous year, with apartments experiencing a slightly higher increase of 27.9 percent compared to villas at 26.3 percent.
As of February 2023, the average annual asking rent for apartments and villas were AED99,737 and AED295,436, respectively.