Dubai Real Estate Market Report — March, 2022

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – March 2022

No March on record has been busier or more valuable for Dubai's residential sector. When the month wrapped up, 8,300 transactions totalling AED 22.86 billion had been logged across all property types, with both the volume and the value setting fresh series records. Looking purely at the Apartment, Villa and Commercial categories, 8,047 deals were completed — a +86% rise over March 2021 — and their combined worth of AED 19.14 billion surged +122% from a year earlier.

At AED 1,186 per square foot, the headline median understates a market propelled by turnover as much as by price: across the core segments volume roughly doubled while values more than doubled — evidence that deal counts and per-deal prices climbed in tandem.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments drove the expansion. The segment recorded 5,420 sales — a +83% rise year on year and 2,456 more deals than twelve months earlier — generating AED 9.66 billion in value (+111%). It was the strongest March for apartment volume across the nine-year series. Prices moved in step: the median hit AED 1,547 per square foot, +45% on March 2021 and +22% over the 2014 base, itself a series-high March figure. The typical apartment ticket landed at AED 1,235,000, a +24% annual increase.

In percentage terms villas advanced even quicker. Sales jumped +103% to 2,359 — 1,195 above the prior year and, as with apartments, the highest March villa volume in the nine-year series — pushing value +134% higher to AED 9.06 billion. At AED 1,001 per square foot the villa median gained +35% year on year and sits +33% above 2014, another series-high March reading. Tellingly, the median villa ticket nudged up only +6% to AED 2,108,000, meaning the value jump owed far more to the number of deals than to the size of the average one. Commercial played a lesser role: 268 sales (+40%), its best March since 2014, worth AED 422.14 million (+102%), at a median of AED 882 per square foot — +32% higher year on year and the strongest March since 2018, yet still -22% under the 2014 base.

By value the sequence was Apartment, Villa, Plot, Commercial and finally Building — the two residential categories sat side by side at the summit and jointly made up most of the month's total. The verified records apply strictly to volume and price per square foot: Apartment and Villa each posted nine-year March highs on both measures, and Commercial repeated the pattern against its own shorter run of benchmarks.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Outside the three core categories, plots added 252 transactions worth AED 3.71 billion — the month's third-largest by value — with a median ticket of AED 5,460,100 that mirrors the land-heavy character of such deals. One building also changed hands for AED 10.00 million; though it was a solitary transaction, its AED 10,000,000 ticket ranked as the highest median ticket of any category, underscoring how whole-asset sales occupy a different price tier from individual units.

Primary versus resale

The month tilted decidedly toward off-plan. Primary sales represented 67% of volume and value alike — 5,387 deals worth AED 12.91 billion — leaving the resale market with the other 33%, some 2,660 deals worth AED 6.23 billion. Because the volume and value shares matched exactly, new and secondary stock changed hands at broadly similar average sizes.

Where the activity was

Marsa Dubai led by value at AED 1.87 billion, followed by Al Merkadh (AED 1.84 billion), Downtown Dubai (AED 1.40 billion), Al Hebiah Fifth (AED 1.39 billion) and Palm Jumeirah (AED 1.36 billion). By volume, Business Bay topped the table with 890 deals, ahead of Marsa Dubai (675), Al Hebiah Fifth (666), Al Barsha South Fourth (526) and Downtown Dubai (443). Three areas appear on both rankings — Marsa Dubai, Downtown Dubai and Al Hebiah Fifth — combining high deal counts with high total value.

Rental market

Rental activity was mixed rather than uniformly higher. New apartment leases dipped -2.52% to 12,092 contracts, yet their median rent rose +16.88% to AED 45,000 (AED 53 per square foot, +15.22%); renewals surged +45.22% to 9,946 but held rent flat at AED 45,000. Villas were the exception on price: new villa leases fell -8% to 1,254 and their median rent slipped -3.75% to AED 115,500, even as villa renewals climbed +24.33% at an unchanged AED 125,000. Commercial leasing firmed across both channels, with new contracts up +20.95% and renewals up +41.14%, and new commercial rent rising +14.29% to AED 80,000.

Supply

Supply tilted toward new launches. Developers launched 6,973 units across 23 projects while 3,858 units across 7 projects were delivered, a launch-to-delivery ratio of 1.8 and a net addition of 3,115 more units launched than handed over — pointing to a pipeline still filling faster than it completes.

Launched

• Torino By Oro24 - 6 – Al Barsha South 3 (Oro24), 627 units
• Myrtle – Al Wasl (Meraas), 132 units
• Avanos – Al Barsha South Fourth (Myra), 96 units
• Cf9 - B – Al Wasl (Meydan), 551 units
• Peninsula Three – Business Bay (Select Group), 864 units
• Cf 6 – Al Wasl (Meydan), 419 units
• Azizi Riviera 36 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 214 units
• Prime Townhouses – Jabal Ali First (Prescott), 8 units
• Damac City Tower B – Al Wasl (Damac), 511 units
• Lotus At Creek Beach Building 4 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 277 units
• Cloud B – Al Barsha South Fifth (Tiger), 467 units
• Royal Park South 1 – Al Barsha South Fourth (Metrical), 35 units
• Pearlz By Danube – Jabal Ali First (Danube), 304 units
• Binghatti Creek – Al Jaddaf (Binghatti), 335 units
• Binghatti Canal – Business Bay (Binghatti), 307 units
• Jadeel 3 – Um Suqaim Third (Meraas), 278 units
• Azizi Riviera 43 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 293 units
• Jebel Ali Village Townhouses- Phase 1 – Jabal Ali First (Nakheel), 286 units
• Chorisia 1 Villas – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Abwab), 60 units
• Boutique Xll – Al Jaddaf (Structure), 129 units
• The Pulse Beachfront 3 – Dubai South (Dubai South), 291 units
• Greenview 3 – Dubai South (Emaar), 241 units
• Azizi Riviera 41 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 248 units

Delivered

• Damac Hills - Carson (Podium) – Al Hebiah Third (Damac), 1,573 units
• Q Gardens Boutique Residences - Block B – Al Barsha South 3 (Ays), 155 units
• The Palm Tower – Palm Jumeirah (Nakheel), 485 units
• Amaranta 2 – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Dubai Properties), 352 units
• The Nook 2-1 – Jabal Ali First (Jag Development), 605 units
• Vera Tower – Business Bay (Damac), 528 units
• Binghatti Mirage – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 160 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 50,000,000 – Serenia Residences Building B, Palm Jumeirah
2. AED 33,500,000 – Bulgari Residences 4, Jumeirah Bay Islands
3. AED 22,885,888 – Beach Isle Tower 1, Marsa Dubai
4. AED 21,200,000 – La Rive 2, Jumeirah First
5. AED 20,500,000 – Bulgari Residences 2, Jumeirah Bay Islands

Top villa sales

1. AED 75,000,000 – Emirates Living
2. AED 62,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
3. AED 47,800,000 – Al Merkadh
4. AED 30,666,888 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
5. AED 30,000,000 – Hessyan Second

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.