Dubai Real Estate Market Report — April, 2023

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – April 2023

April was the best on record for Dubai's sales market. Within the apartment, villa and commercial segments alone, the month registered 7,831 transactions worth AED 17.96 billion, each 17% higher than in April 2022. Widening the lens to every property type, plots included, the tally rose to 8,043 deals carrying AED 26.41 billion in value, priced at a median of AED 1,299/sqft.

Apartments accounted for nearly all of the growth. Villas alone lost volume, and yet they managed it while posting the series' loftiest April price per square foot — a scarcity cue that echoes through the rest of the month's figures.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments drove the expansion. Sales rose 38% from a year earlier to 6,199 — an extra 1,715 deals and the strongest April volume across the 10-year series. Value tracked alongside, gaining 40% to AED 11.54 billion. What stands out is that none of this leaned on dearer pricing: the median stayed at AED 1,411/sqft, in fact 2% softer than a year before yet still 10% ahead of the 2014 baseline, while the median ticket held at AED 1,150,000, likewise 2% lower. The advance sprang from the depth of demand, not costlier stock.

Villas were the only category to fall, and steeply. Volume slid 29% to 1,378 sales, roughly 568 down on a year ago, while value gave up a far gentler 9% to AED 6.00 billion. That gap between the two declines is the entire villa narrative: pricing carried the weight. The median per square foot leapt 18% to AED 1,143/sqft — an April high for the 10-year series and 45% above 2014 — and the median ticket surged 36% to AED 2,666,944. Fewer villas traded, but each commanded a markedly steeper price.

Commercial largely sat things out. Volume ticked 2% higher to 254 deals, essentially flat, whereas total value dropped 19% to AED 421.93 million. Prices nonetheless strengthened: the median hit AED 954/sqft, a 15% annual rise and the strongest April rate since 2016, though it remains 12% under the 2014 mark. The median ticket crept 3% upward to AED 827,500.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Plots fell outside the headline growth rates yet redrew the value picture. A mere 212 land transactions produced AED 8.45 billion, on a median ticket of AED 6,500,003 and just AED 385/sqft. That small cluster of deals explains most of the gap between the all-property total and the apartment-villa-commercial reading — a reminder that land changes hands in big, lumpy tickets.

Primary versus resale

Off-plan and resale finished almost level. Primary sales claimed 55% of volume and 52% of value — 4,306 deals worth AED 9.33 billion — while resale made up 45% of transactions but a marginally bigger 48% of value, 3,525 deals adding up to AED 8.63 billion. That heavier value share on the resale side suggests secondary buyers clustering in pricier, ready stock.

Where the activity was

Marsa Dubai (Dubai Marina) headed the value table at AED 2.38 billion and ranked second by count with 707 deals. By value it outpaced Palm Jumeirah (AED 1.79 billion), Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (AED 1.38 billion), Downtown Dubai (AED 1.07 billion) and Business Bay (AED 1.01 billion). Raw volume, by contrast, gathered in the cheaper communities: Al Barsha South Fourth (JVC) came first with 1,112 transactions, trailed by Marsa Dubai, Business Bay (566), Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (508) and Dubai Creek Harbour (411).

Rental market

The rental market reads as a renewal-led one. New apartment leases dropped 16.13% to 8,080 contracts while renewals advanced 15.78% to 9,354 — tenants holding their ground as rents rose. And rise they did: the median new apartment rent gained 15.56% to AED 52,000 a year (AED 68/sqft, up 23.64%), versus AED 47,250 for renewals. Villas were tighter yet on price — new leases up 18.80% to a median AED 148,500 off only 991 new contracts — as new commercial rents climbed 18.75% to AED 95,000. The same shape recurred in every segment: fewer new leases, distinctly higher rents.

Supply

Developers kept launches running well ahead of handovers. 23 projects delivered 6,958 fresh units to the market, set against 1,523 units completed across 5 projects — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 4.6 and a net 5,435 more units launched than finished. The forward supply book is filling quicker than current inventory is clearing.

Launched

• Mudon Al Ranim 5 – Al Hebiah Sixth (Dubai Properties), 182 units
• Marquis Galleria – Al Barsha South 3 (Marquis Circle), 126 units
• Concept 7 Residences – Al Barsha South Fourth (Condor), 160 units
• The Vybe – Al Barsha South Fourth (Metrical), 276 units
• Azizi Amber – Jabal Ali First (Azizi), 116 units
• 7 Park Central By Meteora – Al Barsha South Fourth (Meteora), 121 units
• Seapoint Tower 2 – Marsa Dubai (Emaar), 674 units
• Sobha Hartland Waves Opulence – Al Merkadh (Sobha), 363 units
• Viewz 1 By Danube – Al Thanyah Fifth (Danube), 564 units
• Arabian Ranches Lll - May – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Emaar), 298 units
• Samana Waves 2 – Al Barsha South Fourth (Samana), 173 units
• Mangrove Residences 3 – Dubai South (Expo City Dubai), 470 units
• Verde By Sobha – Al Thanyah Fifth (Sobha), 610 units
• The East Crest By Meteora – Al Barsha South Fourth (Meteora), 121 units
• Oxford Terraces 2 – Al Barsha South Fourth (Iman Developers), 101 units
• Como Residences – Palm Jumeirah (Como Group), 76 units
• South Bay 2 – Dubai South (Dubai South), 145 units
• Expo City Valley – Dubai South (Expo City Dubai), 528 units
• Elano By Oro24 – Al Barsha South 3 (Oro24), 339 units
• Binghatti Onyx – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 508 units
• Viewz 2 By Danube – Al Thanyah Fifth (Danube), 564 units
• Ellington House Iii – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Ellington), 110 units
• Sobha Seahaven - Tower A – Marsa Dubai (Sobha), 333 units

Delivered

• Golf Place – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Emaar), 158 units
• Orion Building – Al Barsha South 3 (Orion), 196 units
• La Voile - Building 3 – Jumeirah First (Meraas), 187 units
• 15 Northside - Tower 2 – Business Bay (Select Group), 366 units
• Noor 5 – Me'Aisem First (Nshama), 616 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 42,438,000 – Bluewaters Bay - Building 2, Marsa Dubai
2. AED 36,700,000 – Mr C Residences Jumeirah - Block B3, Jumeirah Second
3. AED 24,000,000 – Vida Residence Downtown, Downtown Dubai
4. AED 21,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 5, Jumeirah Bay Islands
5. AED 20,000,000 – The Address Jbr 2 (Jumeirah Gate Tower 2), Marsa Dubai

Top villa sales

1. AED 150,000,000 – Emirates Living
2. AED 75,500,000 – Palm Jumeirah
3. AED 43,798,000 – Al Hebiah Fourth
4. AED 37,700,000 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
5. AED 35,500,000 – Me'Aisem First

Notes on methodology

Scope. The headline totals and category table take in every property category logged in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale split, top-area rankings and year-on-year series span Apartment, Villa and Commercial only, so those numbers are intentionally smaller than the headline and shouldn't be summed across sections.

Rounding. The headline totals are the definitive 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 a year before. All values are in AED; areas in square feet.