Dubai Real Estate Market Report — August, 2021

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – August 2021

Sitting well inside the market's first complete year after lockdown, August 2021 produced figures that read as a clear rebound. With curbs lifting and overseas purchasers coming back, Dubai booked 5,784 transactions totalling AED 15.02 billion across all property types, at a headline median of AED 1,028/sqft. Set against an August 2020 that was still locked down, the apartment, villa and commercial segments combined lifted volume by +142% and value by +239%, reaching AED 12.40 billion.

Both transaction volume and value hit record highs during the month. Rather than an ordinary seasonal print, this looked like demand held back through the pandemic being unleashed in a single burst.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

The push came chiefly from apartments. The segment recorded 3,714 sales — a gain of +123% on the year and 2,050 ahead of August 2020 — the strongest August volume anywhere in the eight-year series. Value more than tripled to AED 6.33 billion (+239%), and prices strengthened rather than thinned out: the median hit AED 1,266/sqft, up +31% year on year and the highest August rate per square foot ever recorded, albeit still just +5% over the 2014 base. A typical apartment sold for AED 1,129,944, a leap of +45%.

On volume, villas ran hotter still. Transactions surged +226% to 1,631 — an additional 1,131 deals and, as with apartments, the highest August figure in the series — as value rose +264% to AED 5.85 billion, nearly level with the apartment total on well under half the deal count. The median came in at AED 777/sqft, up +28% and the best August since 2017, now sitting +12% above 2014. The median villa ticket rose a more moderate +8% to AED 2,364,888.

Commercial lagged the residential boom yet advanced on every metric. Its 156 deals were a +41% improvement and the busiest August since 2015, with value up +18% to AED 215.39 million. Pricing rebounded +24% on the year to AED 750/sqft — the strongest August since 2017 — though it stays -22% under its 2014 mark, a sign the segment is still climbing out of a deeper hole. Median tickets rose +42% to AED 811,315.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Plots were anything but a sideshow this month. The 283 land deals produced AED 2.62 billion — a meaningful share of the AED 15.02 billion overall — at a median of AED 543/sqft, and carried the largest median ticket of any category at AED 3,950,000, highlighting demand for development plots alongside completed homes.

Primary versus resale

Buyers tilted firmly toward new stock. Primary sales made up 71% of both volume and value — 3,932 deals worth AED 8.76 billion — versus 1,569 resale transactions totalling AED 3.64 billion, or 29% on each count. Because the volume and value shares matched exactly, developer launches were trading at ticket sizes roughly comparable to the secondary market.

Where the activity was

Marsa Dubai headed both league tables, pulling in AED 1.68 billion of value and 590 deals. On value, it was trailed by Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (AED 1.31 billion), Palm Jumeirah (AED 1.06 billion), Wadi Al Safa 5 (AED 890.04 million) and Jabal Ali First (AED 787.94 million). Ranked by number of deals, Business Bay (489), Wadi Al Safa 5 (461), Al Barsha South Fourth (428) and Al Thanyah Fifth (299) completed the busiest districts.

Rental market

Leasing painted a more uneven picture than sales. Apartment demand rose — 11,679 fresh contracts (+9.98%) and 7,496 renewals (+6.43%) — but rents eased, the new-lease median landing at AED 40,756 (-2.96%) and renewals dropping sharply to AED 45,000 (-15.09%). Villas went the opposite way: new-lease rents firmed +7.14% to AED 120,000, and commercial new leases rose +12.90% to AED 73,386, so the recovery in occupier pricing power sat outside the apartment segment.

Supply

Supply was heavily weighted to handovers. Developers completed 1,711 units across six projects while launching only 186 across two — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 0.1 and a net 1,525 more units finished than begun. In a month of record demand, the slim launch pipeline suggests existing inventory was being taken up faster than it was replenished.

Launched

• Nicholas Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Segrex), 98 units
• La Riviera Azure – Al Barsha South Fourth (Riviera Developments), 88 units

Delivered

• Grenland – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Arloid), 61 units
• Rove Hotel – Al Wasl (Emaar), 530 units
• Rigel – Al Barsha South Fourth (Myra), 376 units
• Sunrise Legend – Al Barsha South 3 (Deyaar), 112 units
• Multaqa Avenue 4 – Mirdif (Dubai Investments), 348 units
• La Quinta – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Dubai Properties), 284 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 28,760,000 – Amna Tower, Business Bay
2. AED 21,000,000 – The Address Residence Fountain Views 1, Downtown Dubai
3. AED 15,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 4, Jumeirah Bay Islands
4. AED 14,250,000 – Balqis Residence 2, Palm Jumeirah
5. AED 14,150,000 – The Address Residences Dubai Opera T1, Downtown Dubai

Top villa sales

1. AED 103,000,000 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
2. AED 50,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
3. AED 45,000,000 – Emirates Living
4. AED 29,660,000 – Me'Aisem First
5. AED 17,000,000 – Al Merkadh

Notes on methodology

Scope. Headline totals and the category table cover every property category recorded in the data, including Plot and Building. The primary/resale split, top-area rankings and the year-on-year series cover Apartment, Villa and Commercial only, so those figures are deliberately smaller than the headline and should not be added across sections.

Rounding. Headline totals are the authoritative rounded figures. Category-level breakdowns are rounded independently and may not sum exactly to the headline.

Definitions. Price figures are medians, not averages. Year-on-year compares the period against the same period one year earlier. All values in AED; areas in square feet.