Dubai Real Estate Market Report — August, 2023

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – August 2023

Dubai's residential market ended August 2023 at a new peak. Taking in every property type, the emirate registered 11,862 transactions worth AED 33.72 billion, at a median of AED 1,414/sqft. Excluding land, the apartment, villa and commercial segments combined for 11,535 deals — a 25% rise on August 2022 — worth AED 29.04 billion, a 41% gain in value.

Volume and value both set monthly records, and the driver was unmistakable: apartments. Villas were the one segment to cede ground on count even as their values rose, while the modest commercial market quietly notched its busiest August in almost a decade.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments powered the expansion. The segment booked 8,976 sales, up 38% year on year — 2,482 more than a year before and the highest August volume in the 10-year series. Value rose 59% to AED 18.61 billion. Pricing matched the record: the median hit AED 1,623/sqft, up 16% on the year and 34% above the 2014 base, while the median ticket ticked up 14% to AED 1,300,000.

Villas told the reverse story on the headline, and it is the more telling one. Transactions eased 10% to 2,252 — the sole category to decline, 240 below the prior August — yet value still advanced 16% to AED 9.95 billion. That divergence reflects a mix shift toward the upper end: the median villa ticket surged 57% to AED 3,227,944 and price per square foot rose 9% to AED 1,002, its own highest August rate in the 10-year series and 45% above 2014. Fewer villas sold, but those that did were considerably dearer.

Commercial, though only a sliver of the market at 307 deals, delivered the strongest supporting act — up 19% and the highest August volume since 2014. Value rose 50% to AED 483.20 million, the median reached AED 1,082/sqft (up 15%, and the highest August rate since 2017), and the median ticket climbed 26% to AED 1,020,800.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Land contributed meaningfully to the all-property totals: 327 plot transactions traded for AED 4.68 billion, at a median of AED 385/sqft and a median ticket of AED 3,800,000 — the biggest typical deal size of any category, reflecting whole-parcel buys rather than individual units.

Primary versus resale

Off-plan and developer sales led the split. Primary deals represented 63% of apartment, villa and commercial volume and 64% of value — 7,242 transactions worth AED 18.61 billion. The resale, or secondary, market took the remaining 37% of deals and 36% of value, or 4,293 transactions for AED 10.43 billion, leaving the two channels roughly level on average deal size.

Where the activity was

Marsa Dubai headed the value table at AED 3.80 billion, ahead of Palm Jumeirah at AED 2.23 billion and Business Bay at AED 2.19 billion, with Al Merkadh (AED 1.94 billion) and Al Yufrah 1 (AED 1.54 billion) completing the leaders. By raw count, Business Bay came first with 1,204 transactions, followed by Al Barsha South Fourth (977) and Al Merkadh (910); Marsa Dubai (832) and Al Barsha South 3 (637) also featured — a reminder that headline value and raw activity gather in different neighbourhoods.

Rental market

The rental market reinforced the same upward pressure, with new leases repricing far quicker than renewals. New apartment contracts were roughly flat in number (11,656, down a marginal 0.19%) but their median rent leapt 24.65% to AED 59,831; renewals, where 12,553 contracts rose 20.90%, saw the median climb a gentler 8.70% to AED 50,000 — the familiar gap that favours sitting tenants. New villa leases were sharpest of all, median rent up 25.93% to AED 170,000 and rent per square foot up 34.78%, while new commercial rents rose 16.21% to a median AED 97,568.

Supply

Supply kept outrunning completions. Developers launched 6,808 units across 19 projects and delivered 3,740 units from 14 — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 1.8 and a net 3,068 more units launched than delivered. The pipeline is refilling faster than it empties, in line with the record off-plan activity on the sales side.

Launched

• Vyb – Business Bay (Ginco), 181 units
• The Residence By Prestige One – Al Barsha South Fourth (Prestige One), 98 units
• Damac Hills (2) - Natura – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 439 units
• The Mayfair – Al Yelayiss 2 (Nshama), 242 units
• Binghatti Orchid – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 314 units
• Elitz 2 By Danube - 2 – Al Barsha South Fourth (Danube), 801 units
• Pearl House I By Imtiaz – Al Barsha South Fourth (Imtiaz), 185 units
• Uh West By Ellington – Al Thanyah Fifth (Ellington), 381 units
• Azizi Riviera 63 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 122 units
• Damac Hills (2) - Verona – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 384 units
• Shakespare – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Tanmiyat), 652 units
• The Haven - Tower B – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Meraki Developers), 162 units
• Parkside Hills – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Emaar), 370 units
• Sensoria At Five Luxe – Marsa Dubai (Devco), 109 units
• Parkviews – Al Yelayiss 2 (Townx), 819 units
• Jannat – Me'Aisem First (Deyaar), 362 units
• Uh East By Ellington – Al Thanyah Fifth (Ellington), 381 units
• Coral Reef – Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah (Damac), 280 units
• Damac Hills (2) - Violet – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 526 units

Delivered

• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, District One Phase Iii, Residences 6 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 137 units
• La Rosa 3 – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Dubai Properties), 206 units
• The Sterling East House – Business Bay (Beyond), 261 units
• Damac Hills-Veneto – Al Hebiah Third (Damac), 101 units
• Azizi Berton – Jabal Ali First (Azizi), 250 units
• Palace Residences - Dubai Creek Harbour – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 592 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, District One Phase Iii, Residences 7 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 136 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, District One Phase Iii, Residences 8 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 129 units
• Asayel 3 – Um Suqaim Third (Meraas), 337 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 13 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 217 units
• Upside Living – Business Bay (Srg Holding), 527 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 14 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 228 units
• La Rosa 4 – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Dubai Properties), 178 units
• Burj Crown – Downtown Dubai (Emaar), 441 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 64,500,000 – Jumeirah Living Marsa Al Arab, Um Suqaim Third
2. AED 59,500,000 – One Za'Abeel Tower, Zaabeel First
3. AED 57,000,000 – The Address Residences Dubai Opera T2, Downtown Dubai
4. AED 55,342,888 – Seapoint Tower 1, Marsa Dubai
5. AED 31,472,888 – Bayview Tower 1, Marsa Dubai

Top villa sales

1. AED 209,000,000 – Emirates Living
2. AED 91,000,000 – Al Hebiah Fourth
3. AED 78,785,000 – World Islands
4. AED 76,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
5. AED 75,000,000 – Jumeirah Bay Islands

Notes on methodology

Scope. The headline totals and the category table span every property category in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale split, the leading-area rankings and the year-on-year series cover only Apartment, Villa and Commercial, so those numbers are intentionally 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 same period a year earlier. All values are in AED; areas are in square feet.