Dubai Real Estate Market Report — April, 2022

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – April 2022

April 2022 delivered fresh records for Dubai's core property market. Taking in all asset types, 6,890 transactions worth AED 17.57 billion were registered. Zoom in on apartments, villas and commercial units and the tally comes to 6,679 sales — 47% higher than April 2021 — alongside AED 15.37 billion in value, a 73% year-on-year leap that set both a record April volume and a record April value.

Momentum was widely spread. The citywide median price steadied at AED 1,139 per square foot, with every category fetching more per square foot than in April 2021. Apartments and villas each posted their strongest April transaction counts in the nine-year series reaching back to 2014, and apartments stood out as the month's clear driver.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments drove the expansion. The segment tallied 4,484 sales — 1,564 more than the year before, a 54% rise — the highest April apartment volume across the nine-year series. Value grew even faster, up 93% to AED 8.22 billion. At AED 1,435 per square foot the median apartment price sat 36% above April 2021 and 12% over the 2014 baseline, while the median ticket advanced 37% to AED 1,170,444.

Villas echoed that volume story with a keener pricing angle. Turnover of 1,946 units — 582 more than last April and 43% higher — likewise marked a nine-year April record, and value rose 50% to AED 6.63 billion. Pricing was the distinguishing feature: at AED 966 per square foot, up 23% year-on-year and 23% above 2014, this was the highest April villa price per square foot in the series. The median villa ticket, however, shifted only slightly, up 8% to AED 1,963,888.

Commercial was the outlier — the sole category whose deal count fell, down 5% to 249 transactions. Elsewhere, though, it was anything but soft. Value more than doubled, up 133% to AED 518.21 million; the median price per square foot surged 60% to AED 831, its highest April reading since 2017; and the median ticket climbed 58% to AED 804,150. Even then, at AED 831 per square foot commercial pricing remains 24% under its 2014 mark — the only one of the three core segments still trading below its baseline.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Away from the core segments, land kept trading in size. Plots made up 211 registrations worth AED 2.20 billion in April, at a median AED 495 per square foot and a median ticket of AED 5,677,878 that reflects the sizeable parcels involved.

Primary versus resale

The primary market led on activity, capturing 62% of volume with 4,137 deals worth AED 8.96 billion, or 58% of value. Resale took the remaining 38% of transactions — 2,542 deals — yet outperformed on value at 42%, worth AED 6.41 billion. That four-point spread between resale's value and volume shares signals larger average tickets trading in the secondary market.

Where the activity was

Marsa Dubai headed the value table at AED 1.63 billion, ahead of Palm Jumeirah (AED 1.40 billion) and Downtown Dubai (AED 1.31 billion), with Al Hebiah Fifth (AED 1.13 billion) and Al Merkadh (AED 1.03 billion) completing the top five. On deal count Business Bay was busiest with 667 transactions, then Marsa Dubai (588), Al Hebiah Fifth (511), Al Barsha South Fourth (469) and Downtown Dubai (410). Marsa Dubai, Downtown Dubai and Al Hebiah Fifth showed up on both leaderboards.

Rental market

In leasing, new apartment contracts totalled 9,634 (down 3.37%) at a median rent of AED 45,000, up 12.50% year-on-year, while renewals jumped 54.74% to 8,079 — with renewal rents easing 4.44% to AED 43,000. New villa leases were roughly steady in number at 1,037, their median rent up 4.17% to AED 125,000, and commercial leasing strengthened: 1,491 new contracts (up 5.67%) at a median AED 80,000, up 11.11%, with new commercial rent per square foot up 24.62% to AED 81. For apartments and villas, new-lease rents rose while renewal rents softened a touch, whereas commercial rents gained on both new and renewed contracts.

Supply

On supply, developers launched 1,076 units across 8 projects while completing 1,352 units across 5 projects — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 0.8 that left 276 more homes delivered than launched for the month. With handovers running ahead of new launches, freshly completed stock kept feeding the market.

Launched

• Orchid At Creek Beach Building 2 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 219 units
• Jebel Ali Village Townhouses - Phase 3 – Jabal Ali First (Nakheel), 196 units
• Loci Residences – Al Barsha South Fourth (Lootah), 126 units
• Binghatti Jasmine – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 93 units
• O10 – Al Jaddaf (Aqua Properties), 131 units
• Jebel Ali Village Townhouses - Phase 2 – Jabal Ali First (Nakheel), 132 units
• Unieestate Supreme Residence – Al Barsha South 3 (Uniestate), 138 units
• Damac Hills - Cavalli Estates – Al Hebiah Third (Damac), 41 units

Delivered

• Parkside – Dubai South (Emaar), 371 units
• Binghatti Avenue – Al Jaddaf (Binghatti), 639 units
• The Haven Residences – Al Barsha South Fourth (Metrical), 162 units
• Majestique Residence 1 – Dubai South (Credo Group), 124 units
• Avencia 6 – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 56 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 40,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 1, Jumeirah Bay Islands
2. AED 40,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 4, Jumeirah Bay Islands
3. AED 37,603,888 – The Address Residences Dubai Opera T2, Downtown Dubai
4. AED 33,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 5, Jumeirah Bay Islands
5. AED 17,800,000 – Serenia Residences Building B, Palm Jumeirah

Top villa sales

1. AED 96,000,000 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
2. AED 71,000,000 – Emirates Living
3. AED 52,500,000 – Palm Jumeirah
4. AED 49,800,000 – Me'Aisem First
5. AED 31,905,000 – Jumeirah Bay Islands

Notes on methodology

Scope. The headline totals and the category table take in every property category captured in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale breakdown, the top-area rankings and the year-on-year series relate to Apartment, Villa and Commercial alone, so those numbers are intentionally smaller than the headline and must not be summed across sections.

Rounding. The headline totals are the authoritative rounded figures. Category-level breakdowns are rounded separately and may not add up precisely to the headline.

Definitions. All price figures are medians rather than averages. Year-on-year sets the period against the same period twelve months before. Every value is in AED and all areas are in square feet.