We witnessed nearly 10K total property transactions, with a total sales value of over AED 28B, which is an increase of nearly 70% compared to January of 2022, making this the best-performing month of January on record.
Dubai Property Sales Volume in January over years
Apartments continue to be the main interest of investors. The number of apartment sales compared to January of 2022 nearly doubled, with over 7,400 transactions.
AED 15.5B was spent on Dubai apartments during the month of January for both off-plan and ready units combined.
Mortgage Transactions and Value
A massive surge in transactions is indicated by a mortgage value increase of more than 150% compared to January 2022. The number of mortgage transactions was double that of Jan - 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 January, at AED 1,313.
Price Changes by Property Type
Type | Avg. AED Price | vs. Jan 2014 % | vs. Jan 2022 % |
| Off-plan apartment | 1.4M | 105% | 23% |
| Off-plan villa | 2.2M | -39 | 27% |
| Ready apartment | 1.1M | 17% | -5% |
| Ready villa | 3.25M | 13% | 19% |
Dubai Apartment Price Changes Over the Years
(Off-plan & Ready properties combined)
Transactions Breakdown
- Over 7.4k apartments were sold, up by almost 100% vs. Jan-2022, amounting to over AED 15.5B.
- Nearly 1.8k villa transactions occurred, which is up by 8% vs. Jan-2022, amounting to nearly AED 7B.
- Nearly 350 plots were sold, at a 67% jump compared to Jan-2022, amounting to over AED 5B in sales value.
- Nearly 300 commercial property transactions took place, which is a 65% increase compared to Jan-2022, amounting to AED 479M.
Off-Plan vs. Ready Properties
Off-plan transactions 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
Business Bay took the lead for top-performing areas, both for off-plan and ready apartments.
The vast majority of off-plan villa transactions took place at Damac Lagoons.
Top performing areas - Off-plan and ready properties - all types.
Apartments
Villas
- Off-Plan: Damac Lagoons - 522 transactions
- Ready: Damac Hills 2 - 80 transactions
Commercial
- Off-Plan: MBR City - 15 transactions
- Ready: Business Bay - 82 transactions
Rent on the Rise
Downtown rent has risen by nearly 15% since January of 2022.
Rent across Dubai continues to rise, motivating investors to continue buying, while renters are motivated to either renew their active leases or become first-time home buyers.
New rental contracts downtown are nearly 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 Jan.
8.5% of the overall transactions were sold for AED 5M+, showing continued growth in Dubai’s luxury property market.
Jan 2023 Property Sales Volume by Price Range (off-plan/ready-made combined, all property types)
For the Love of Luxury
The highest transaction value took place on Palm Jumeirah, where a villa was sold for AED 125M.
Palm Jumeirah Mansions
Top five projects with the most expensive sold apartments:
- 📍Bulgari Lighthouse, Island 2 - AED 119M
- 📍One Canal, Dubai Water Canal - AED 73M
- 📍Aire Dubai, Al Wasl - AED 62M
- 📍Palm Beach Towers- 3, Palm Jumeirah - AED 61M
- 📍Private Residences Dubai, Dubai Water Canal - AED 54M
Top five areas with the most expensive sold villas:
- 📍Palm Jumeirah - AED 125M
- 📍Al Bada - AED 49M
- 📍Emirate Living - AED 45M
- 📍Elysian Mansions, Tilal Al Ghaf - AED 45M
- 📍Al Barsha South First - AED 32M
Key Takeaways
2023 started off with the strongest month of January on record, in terms of both sales volume and value. The total sales value reached over AED 28B. 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 are nearly double that of Jan- 2022.
- New rental contracts Downtown are on average 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 apartment sales for two months in a row, with an apartment selling for nearly AED 120M.
- Damac Lagoons is by far the top-selling off-plan villa project, with over 500 transactions in the month of January alone.
- The number of mortgaged transactions doubled compared to Jan-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.