Dubai Real Estate Market Report — September, 2022

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – September 2022

Dubai real estate posted a record September in 2022. Counting all property types, 8,703 deals were completed for a combined AED 24.38 billion, making it the most active and most valuable September across the 9-year series, with an overall median of AED 1,227/sqft.

Restricting the view to apartments, villas and commercial property, 8,460 sales closed for AED 18.95 billion — a 50% rise in volume and a 53% rise in value versus September 2021. That expansion was widespread yet uneven: apartments powered the jump, villas kept their transaction count steady while advancing on price, and commercial recovered from a smaller base.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments drove the expansion. The segment recorded 6,458 sales during the month, a 73% increase on September 2021 and the strongest September volume in the 9-year series — an absolute rise of 2,720 deals on the previous year. Value grew even faster, reaching AED 12.09 billion (+85%), while the median price hardened to AED 1,514/sqft, up 22% year on year and 26% above the 2014 base, itself a September high for the series. With the median ticket at AED 1,215,756 (+10%), buyers were both paying more per home and transacting in far greater numbers.

Villas followed a different arc. Their transaction count hardly shifted — 1,762 deals, a mere 2% gain — but that was still the highest September villa volume in the series. The momentum lay in prices rather than activity: value climbed 18% to AED 6.47 billion, the median hit AED 925/sqft (+17% year on year and a striking 45% above 2014, the widest gap to base of any category), and the median ticket advanced 14% to AED 2,130,388. In essence, villa demand appears near its practical ceiling in unit terms, with growth now flowing almost wholly from price.

Commercial was the smallest segment yet anything but flat. Its 240 transactions rose 40% year on year — the highest September volume since 2014 — and value increased 18% to AED 390.08 million. At AED 945/sqft the median was the strongest September figure since 2017 (+13%), although it stays 10% under its 2014 level, a reminder that offices and retail are still clawing back ground the residential market recovered long ago. The median ticket ticked up 10% to AED 958,238.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Land was the quiet heavyweight. Just 243 plot deals closed, yet they produced AED 5.43 billion in value — more than the whole commercial segment — at a median ticket of AED 7,163,265, comfortably the biggest of any property type. The median plot price of AED 530/sqft reflects the raw-land basis behind those oversized cheques.

Primary versus resale

Off-plan set the tempo. Primary sales made up 65% of apartment, villa and commercial volume and 67% of value — 5,484 transactions worth AED 12.73 billion. Resale accounted for the rest: 2,976 deals and AED 6.22 billion, equal to 35% of volume against 33% of value. That two-point gap, with value share lagging volume share, suggests secondary trades tilted toward cheaper stock while developer launches took the pricier end.

Where the activity was

Activity clustered in a familiar set of prime and mid-market districts. Business Bay was the outright volume leader with 1,175 transactions, ahead of Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (592), Al Barsha South 3 (591), Marsa Dubai (544) and Jabal Ali First (475). By value the order shifted toward the waterfront: Palm Jumeirah led at AED 2.04 billion, trailed by Business Bay (AED 1.81 billion), Marsa Dubai (AED 1.64 billion), Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (AED 1.20 billion) and Al Wasl (AED 1.10 billion) — Palm's steep tickets carrying it to first on value even though it did not rank among the busiest areas by count.

Rental market

Leasing revealed a widening divide between new and renewing tenants. New apartment contracts totalled 15,325 (+13.02%) at a median rent of AED 50,000, up 25% year on year, while renewals — which jumped 73.73% to 14,230 contracts — saw their median rent ease 2.08% to AED 47,000, a sign that sitting tenants clung to cheaper terms as fresh leases repriced higher. Villas echoed the pattern more gently: new-lease medians rose 12% to AED 140,000 against a near-flat 0.80% on renewals. New commercial rents advanced 11.17% to a median of AED 84,084.

Supply

Supply leaned toward the pipeline rather than handover. Developers launched 3,572 units across 11 projects while 2,751 units in 7 projects were delivered — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 1.3 and a net 821 more units launched than completed, signalling ongoing confidence in future demand.

Launched

• Serenia Living - Tower 4 – Palm Jumeirah (Palma), 226 units
• South Bay 1 – Dubai South (Dubai South), 251 units
• Ellington Beach House – Palm Jumeirah (Ellington), 129 units
• Damac Hills - Gems Estates 2 – Al Hebiah Third (Damac), 15 units
• Laurel – Al Wasl (Meraas), 218 units
• Olgana – Al Safouh First (Abyaar), 242 units
• Sobha Hartland - The Crest Tower Podium – Al Merkadh (Sobha), 1,176 units
• Samana Miami – Al Barsha South Fourth (Samana), 93 units
• Opalz By Danube - Tower 2 – Al Barsha South 2 (Deyaar), 726 units
• Palm Beach Towers- 3 – Palm Jumeirah (Nakheel), 460 units
• Damac Hills - Gems Estates 1 – Al Hebiah Third (Damac), 36 units

Delivered

• Azizi Riviera 11 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 147 units
• Viridis Podium – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 871 units
• Golden Wood Views-1 – Al Barsha South Fifth (Golden Wood), 59 units
• Joya Blanca Residences – Al Barsha South 3 (Green Yard), 315 units
• 1 Residences - 2 – Al Kifaf (Wasl), 793 units
• Sobha Hartland One Park Avenue – Al Merkadh (Sobha), 421 units
• Azizi Riviera 12 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 145 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 145,000,000 – Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Um Suqaim Third
2. AED 38,000,000 – The Residence At Marina Gate 2, Marsa Dubai
3. AED 23,180,655 – One Za'Abeel The Residences, Zaabeel First
4. AED 20,983,888 – Beachgate By Address, Marsa Dubai
5. AED 18,418,188 – Mr C Residences Jumeirah - Block B1, Jumeirah Second

Top villa sales

1. AED 145,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
2. AED 115,000,000 – Jumeirah Bay Islands
3. AED 90,000,000 – Emirates Living
4. AED 48,000,000 – Um Suqaim Third
5. AED 41,500,000 – Al Merkadh

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 relate to Apartment, Villa and Commercial only, so those figures are deliberately smaller than the headline and should not be summed across sections.

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

Definitions. Price figures are medians rather than averages. Year-on-year sets the period against the matching period twelve months earlier. All values are in AED; areas in square feet.