According to the 12th edition of Mo’asher, Dubai’s official sales price index that was launched by Dubai Land Department (DLD) in cooperation with Property Finder, Dubai’s real estate market recorded 3,787 sales transactions worth AED 7.43 billion in February 2021, 13.8% more than January 2021 in terms of volume and 8.9% more in terms of value. This brings the year’s total, up until end of February, to 7,114 sales transactions worth AED 14.2 billion.

The index data, which is taken from the base year 2012, base month for the monthly index January 2012, and the base quarter for the quarterly index Q1 2012, shows that Dubai’s real estate market continues its upwards trend. After a slight dip in January, the index numbers are back on the rise.

Overview

Additional trends that we started observing in H2 2020 were secondary/ready properties transacting higher, volume wise, than off-plan properties. This trend also continued into 2021, and the demand in the ready market continued to grow as February 2021 now holds the record for the most secondary/ready property sales transactions in a single month over the past three years, surpassing January’s numbers.

In February, 67% of overall transactions were for secondary/ready properties, and 33% were for off-plan properties. When we look at the volume of transactions, the off-plan market transacted 1,355 properties worth a total of AED 1.8 billion, and the secondary market transacted 4,114 properties worth a total of AED 15.3 billion. Comparing this to January 2021, the number of off-plan transactions in February increased by 39.9% .

According to Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder Group, 10.3% of all sales in the villas/townhouses sector in February 2021 took place in Nad al Sheba, followed by Dubai Hills Estate (8.3%), Green Community (8%), Arabian Ranches (4.7%) and Dubailand (4%). Looking at apartments, 14.9% of all sales transactions took place in Business Bay followed by Dubai Marina (9%), Jumeirah Village Circle (8%), Downtown Dubai (6.5%), and Palm Jumeirah (6.2%).

According to Property Finder’s proprietary demand data, the top areas of interest in terms of searches for villas/townhouses in February 2021 were Dubai Hills Estate, Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah, Mohamed bin Rashid City, and Damac Hills. As for apartments for the same period, the top areas of interest were Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay, and Jumeirah Village Circle.

Overall, the monthly Index recorded 1.071 and an index price of AED 1,004,652. Apartments’ monthly Index recorded 1.125 and an index price of AED 944,982, while the monthly index of villas/townhouses recorded 0.924 and an index price of AED 1,760,377.