Dubai Real Estate Market Report — Q1, 2022

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – Q1 2022

Dubai's residential market began 2022 running flat out. The opening quarter ended with 20,190 transactions worth AED 54.65 billion spanning every property type, and both the deal count and the value rank as all-property records for the market. At the median, buyers paid AED 1,128/sqft.

Setting plots and buildings aside, the core Apartment, Villa and Commercial segments recorded 19,557 deals, up +79% year on year, and AED 43.79 billion in value, a +119% surge on Q1 2021. Momentum carried through both the off-plan and the ready market, with apartments doing the heavy lifting.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments led on every count. The segment traded 13,118 units, up +72% year on year and 5,484 deals more than a year before, for AED 23.46 billion in value (+126%) — the biggest of any category by value. That volume marked the highest Q1 total in the nine-year series, and at AED 1,443/sqft (up +39% on the year and +22% above 2014) pricing set a first-quarter series high as well. The median apartment ticket climbed to AED 1,151,182, up +29%.

Villas ran even hotter on volume, up +106% to 5,749 deals — itself a Q1 record — and AED 19.23 billion in value (+113%), placing second behind apartments. Villa pricing reached a Q1 series high of AED 902/sqft, up +24% on the year and +23% versus 2014. Notably, the median villa ticket slipped -10% to AED 1,987,000, a signal that the surge was broad rather than concentrated at the very top — buyers pushed up the price per foot even as the typical deal size fell. Commercial was smaller but clearly positive: 690 deals (+37%, the highest Q1 count since 2015) and AED 1.10 billion in value (+85%), with pricing of AED 855/sqft the strongest since 2018, though still -19% beneath its 2014 level.

By value the full ranking runs Apartment, Villa, Plot, Commercial and then a single Building. Plots added a substantial AED 10.86 billion across 632 deals at AED 530/sqft. On median ticket, the lone Building recorded — one deal at AED 10,000,000 — is the largest of any property type; among the higher-volume categories, plots carry the biggest typical ticket at AED 4,736,630, comfortably ahead of villas and apartments. Price per square foot rose across all three core segments this quarter.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Plots were a meaningful part of the quarter's value: 632 transactions produced AED 10.86 billion, third among all property types by value, at a median AED 530/sqft and a typical ticket of AED 4,736,630 — the largest median ticket of any category with real volume. One building also changed hands, at AED 10,000,000.

Primary versus resale

The off-plan market did most of the lifting. Primary sales accounted for 68% of volume and 67% of value — 13,339 deals worth AED 29.19 billion. Resale made up the remaining 32% of deals and 33% of value, or 6,218 transactions totalling AED 14.60 billion, its marginally higher value share reflecting the larger average ticket on completed, ready stock.

Where the activity was

Marsa Dubai (Dubai Marina) headed the value table at AED 4.94 billion, ahead of Al Merkadh (AED 3.22 billion), Downtown Dubai (AED 3.20 billion), Palm Jumeirah (AED 3.09 billion) and Al Hebiah Fifth (AED 2.95 billion). By deal count the busiest district was Business Bay with 2,073 transactions, followed by Marsa Dubai (1,632), Al Hebiah Fifth (1,430), Al Merkadh (1,325) and Al Barsha South Fourth (1,298). Three areas — Marsa Dubai, Al Merkadh and Al Hebiah Fifth — feature on both the value and the volume leaderboards, marking them as the quarter's true dual-engine markets.

Rental market

The rental market was more mixed than the sales side. New apartment contracts eased -3.55% to 33,671, yet the median new-lease rent rose +10.26% to AED 43,000; renewals jumped +42.06% to 26,814, but with renewal rents softening -4.26% to AED 45,000 as sitting tenants secured better terms. Villas told a similar tale — fewer new contracts (-10.64%, 3,502) at higher new rents (+4.35%, AED 120,000), and more renewals (+21.67%, 4,351). Commercial leasing stood out, with new contracts up +29.21% to 5,392 and new median rent up +24.31% to AED 80,799.

Supply

Supply kept up with demand. Developers launched 11,688 units across 41 projects and delivered 10,954 units from 26 projects, a launch-to-delivery ratio of 1.1 and a net of 734 more units launched than handed over — a modest lean toward refilling the future pipeline.

Selected launches

• 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
• Peninsula Five - 3 – Business Bay (Select Group), 408 units
• Luna Residence – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Desert Falcon), 190 units
• Cf 6 – Al Wasl (Meydan), 419 units
• Azizi Riviera 36 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 214 units
• City Center Residences – Downtown Dubai (Dar Global), 384 units
• … and 31 further projects

Selected completions

• Damac Hills - Carson (Podium) – Al Hebiah Third (Damac), 1,573 units
• Elite Downtown Residence – Downtown Dubai (Triplanet Range), 469 units
• Collective 2.0 Tower B – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Emaar), 504 units
• Binghatti Point – Nadd Hessa (Binghatti), 127 units
• Q Gardens Boutique Residences - Block B – Al Barsha South 3 (Ays), 155 units
• Hera Tower – Al Hebiah Fourth (Titans), 556 units
• Noura Tower – Marsa Dubai (Al Habtoor Group), 1,597 units
• Collective Tower 2 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Emaar), 476 units
• Lawnz Block 4 – Al Warsan First (Danube), 1,063 units
• The Palm Tower – Palm Jumeirah (Nakheel), 485 units
• … and 16 further projects

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 50,000,000 – Jumeirah Living Marsa Al Arab, Um Suqaim Third
2. AED 50,000,000 – Serenia Residences Building B, Palm Jumeirah
3. AED 48,000,000 – Palme Couture Residences, Palm Jumeirah
4. AED 45,000,000 – Serenia Residences Building C, Palm Jumeirah
5. AED 39,630,295 – The Address Residences Dubai Opera T1, Downtown Dubai

Top villa sales

1. AED 87,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
2. AED 75,000,000 – Emirates Living
3. AED 47,800,000 – Al Merkadh
4. AED 43,000,000 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
5. AED 33,000,000 – Me'Aisem First

Notes on methodology

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

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

Definitions. Price figures are medians rather than averages. Year-on-year compares a period with the same period twelve months earlier. All values in AED; areas in square feet.