As February comes to an end, Dubai continues its record-breaking growth in property transactions. We witnessed the highest sales value and number of transactions on record for the month of February.
There were nearly 9K total property transactions, which is a 42% increase compared to February 2022.
We saw a total sales value of nearly AED 27B, an increase of 64% compared to February 2022.
Dubai Property Sales Volume in February over years
Apartments continue to be the main interest of investors. The number of apartment sales compared to February of 2022 nearly doubled, with nearly 6k transactions.
AED 12.4B was spent on Dubai apartments during the month of February for both off-plan and ready units combined.
Mortgage Transactions and Value
Number of Mortage Transactions: 2,310
Value: 11.6B
A surge in transactions is indicated by a mortgage value increase of more than 70% compared to February 2022. The number of mortgage transactions was up by over 40% compared to Feb - 2022, indicating a growing number of live-in buyers.
Price Changes
The average price per square foot is the highest on record for the month of February, at AED 1,313.
Price Changes by Property Type
The price per square foot of off-plan apartments is now up to AED 1.7K, which is the highest on record.
Off-Plan Apartment Price Per Square Foot Over the Years (AED)
Transactions Breakdown
(Off-Plan & Ready Property Combined)
- Nearly 6k apartments were sold, up by almost 50% vs. Feb-2022, amounting to over AED 12B.
- Nearly 2k villa transactions occurred, which is up by 10% vs. Feb-2022, amounting to over 8B.
- 336 plots were sold, which is up by over 46% compared to Feb-2022, amounting to nearly AED 5B in sales value.
- Over 200 commercial property transactions took place, which is down by over 13% compared to Feb-2022, amounting to AED 457M.
Off-Plan vs. Ready Properties
Off-plan transactions are beginning to heavily outweigh ready property transactions, with nearly 60% of the overall transactions being off-plan.
Off-plan vs. Ready Property (Plot transactions not considered)
Top Performing Areas
Jumeirah Village Circle has overtaken Business Bay in sales volume. There were nearly 700 off-plan transactions in JVC alone.
Dubai Marina witnessed the highest sales volume for ready properties.
Top performing areas - Off-plan and ready properties - all types.
Apartments
Villas
Commercial
Rent on the Rise
Downtown rent has risen by 14% since February of 2022.
New rental contracts in Downtown are AED 25K/year more than renewed. 
Average Downtown rental price
Property Sales Volume by Price Range
Properties that sold for up to AED 3M made for over 60% of the total sales volume with over 6,000 transactions taking place in the month of Feb.
More than 900 transactions took place for AED 5M+, indicating continued growth in Dubai’s luxury property market.
Feb 2023 Property Sales Volume by Price Range (off-plan/ready-made combined, all property types)
For the Love of Luxury
The increase in luxury transactions continues, with the highest transaction value taking place at Bulgari Lighthouse, Island 2 for AED 410M.
Bulgari Lighthouse
Top five projects with the most expensive sold apartments:
- 📍Bulgari Lighthouse, Island 2 - AED 410M
- 📍Aire Dubai, Al Wasl - AED 119M
- 📍One at Palm Jumeirah - AED 49M
- 📍One Canal, Dubai Water Canal - AED 39M
- 📍Six Senses Residences - Palm Jumeirah - AED 39M
Top five areas with the most expensive sold villas:
- 📍Club Villas - Palm Jumeirah - AED 183M
- 📍Emirate Living - AED 70M
- 📍Elysian Mansions, Tilal Al Ghaf - AED 45M
- 📍Dubai Hills - Hills Grove Community - AED 45M
- 📍MBR City, District One - AED 31M
Key Takeaways
We witnessed the strongest month of February on record, in terms of both sales volume and value. The total sales value reached nearly 26B. Investors continue to show an undeniable trust in the Dubai property market.
- Apartments continue to be the main interest of investors. Off-plan and ready transactions combined made for nearly half of the overall property transactions.
- New rental contracts Downtown are AED 25K higher than contract renewals. Rent across Dubai continues to rise, causing many renters to become first-time home buyers.
- Bulgari Lighthouse has held the highest-priced property sales for 3 months in a row, with one apartment selling for AED 410M.
- The price of off-plan apartments is up by nearly 20% compared to Feb - 2022
For more information on the record-breaking state of Dubai’s property market, have a quick look at our Interactive Reporting Tool.
*Notes and Disclaimers:
- Prepared by Fateh Al-Msaddi&Steven Worlow.
- In this report, “transaction” refers to the actual property sales, which do not include mortgage or gift transactions.
- Off-plan property could be sold by a developer or individual.
- Some villa transactions were registered as plots in The Dubai Land Department, so we modified what we notice to be villas with a high level of accuracy.
- Plot transactions are excluded when it comes to comparing off-plan vs. ready property sales.
- We are not responsible for any investment decision made based on the information in this report.
- Figures have been rounded to the nearest tenth for clarity.