Dubai Real Estate Market Report — January, 2023

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – January 2023

Dubai's property sector began 2023 on record footing. Across all property types, January 2023 registered 9,678 transactions totalling AED 27.87 billion, with a median of AED 1,326/sqft. Confined to the apartment, villa and commercial segments, activity came to 9,371 deals — a +70% rise over January 2022 — worth AED 23.74 billion, marking a +94% leap in value.

Each yardstick pointed to the best January ever logged: volume and value both reached record territory for the month, with apartments unmistakably at the front of the advance.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments powered the growth. The category wrapped up 7,230 sales, a +95% gain on the year — 3,516 more deals than the previous January and the busiest January in the 10-year series. Value rose more quickly still, to AED 15.66 billion (+116%), while the median hit AED 1,646/sqft — a January high for the series, sitting +17% above the prior year and +59% over the 2014 base. The typical apartment ticket landed at AED 1,335,013, +16% on the same month last year.

Villas offered a more muted volume picture but a steeper pricing one. Only 217 additional homes traded versus a year before — a +13% uplift to 1,847 sales — though that still set the highest January villa count in the 10-year series. Value advanced +61% to AED 7.59 billion, and the price gain outpaced apartments: the median climbed to AED 1,100/sqft, +28% on the year and +52% above 2014, as the median villa ticket surged +36% to AED 2,605,000.

Commercial, the smallest of the segments, delivered the second-fastest value growth. Its 294 sales (+69%, equal to 120 extra deals) were the most for any January since 2015, and value more than doubled to AED 478.99 million (+104%). The median gained +28% to AED 1,020/sqft — a January record for the series, albeit just +4% over the 2014 base — while the median ticket nudged +10% higher to AED 810,792.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Most of the difference between the headline tally and the apartment-villa-commercial base comes down to plots: 307 land deals worth AED 4.13 billion were concluded in January, at a median of AED 385/sqft and a median ticket of AED 5,080,070 — the biggest median ticket among the four reported categories, a reflection of how large individual land parcels are.

Primary versus resale

The primary market carried the month. Off-plan and developer transactions made up 64% of volume and 66% of value — 5,965 deals worth AED 15.59 billion — versus 3,406 resale deals worth AED 8.15 billion, or 36% of volume and 34% of value. Resale therefore came in just under its weight, claiming a marginally smaller slice of money than of deals.

Where the activity was

Palm Jumeirah topped the value table at AED 1.95 billion, just above Business Bay (AED 1.91 billion), Al Hebiah Fifth (AED 1.87 billion), Downtown Dubai (AED 1.81 billion) and Marsa Dubai (AED 1.76 billion). The order shifts when ranked by count: Business Bay led with 1,050 transactions, ahead of Al Barsha South Fourth (667), Dubai Creek Harbour (590), Al Hebiah Fifth (569) and Marsa Dubai (548). The Palm was also home to the month's biggest deals — a AED 125,000,000 villa and a AED 60,808,800 apartment at Palm Beach Towers.

Rental market

Rents moved at two speeds. New apartment leases were signed at a median AED 50,000, +19.05% higher on the year (and +27.45% to AED 65/sqft), even as new-lease volume eased -5.79% to 10,239 contracts. Renewals went the other way, jumping +49.45% to 12,056 contracts as tenants held their ground, which kept renewal rents to a median AED 46,000 (+2.22%). Villas showed the same divide — new leases at AED 140,000 (+16.67%) against renewals at AED 130,000 (+0.73%) — as did commercial, where new rents were broadly flat at AED 83,000 (+2.99%).

Supply

Fresh supply outstripped handovers by a wide margin: developers launched 6,458 units over 20 projects while 3,324 units were completed across 12, giving a launch-to-delivery ratio of 1.9 and a net 3,134 more units launched than delivered — a plain sign of a pipeline expanding over the course of the year.

Launched

• Neva Residences – Al Barsha South Fourth (Tiger), 409 units
• Damac Bay - Tower C – Marsa Dubai (Damac), 734 units
• Beverly Boulevard – Al Barsha South 3 (H M B Homes), 271 units
• The Grove By Iman – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Iman Developers), 126 units
• The Portman – Al Barsha South Fourth (Ellington), 167 units
• Aura By Grovy – Al Barsha South Fourth (Grovy), 151 units
• Elvira 2 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Emaar), 902 units
• Arabian Ranches Lll - Anya – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Emaar), 492 units
• Amalia Residences – Jabal Ali First (Deyaar), 99 units
• La Perla Homes 10 – Al Barsha South Fourth (G H D), 13 units
• Barari Views – Wadi Al Safa 3 (P C I Developers), 26 units
• Binghatti Crescent – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 170 units
• Hamilton House – Al Barsha South Fourth (Ellington), 102 units
• The Valley - Elora – Al Yufrah 1 (Emaar), 430 units
• Mudon Al Ranim 4 – Al Hebiah Sixth (Dubai Properties), 134 units
• The Community Motor City – Al Hebiah First (Aqua Development), 433 units
• Luxury Family Residence Iii – Business Bay (Kappa Acca), 47 units
• Erin – Al Wasl (Meraas), 202 units
• Sobha Hartland - The Crest Tower A – Al Merkadh (Sobha), 1,415 units
• Avenue Residence 4 – Jabal Ali First (Al Jaziri Brothers), 135 units

Delivered

• Blue Wave – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Tiger), 601 units
• Address Harbour Point Tower 2 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 921 units
• Zubaida Residency – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Zenith Holding), 62 units
• Mesk 2 – Me'Aisem First (Deyaar), 291 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 15 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 121 units
• Taraf 2 Residence – Al Barsha South Fifth (Taraf Development), 95 units
• Nicholas Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Segrex), 98 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, District One Phase Iii, Residences 16 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 121 units
• Zada Tower – Business Bay (Damac), 709 units
• Edison House – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Time Properties), 130 units
• Arabian Ranches Iii - Spring – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Emaar), 154 units
• Intima Villas – Al Hebiah Fourth (Dubai Sports City), 21 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 60,808,800 – Palm Beach Towers- 3, Palm Jumeirah
2. AED 47,500,000 – The Address Jbr 2 (Jumeirah Gate Tower 2), Marsa Dubai
3. AED 42,920,862 – Bulgari Residences 3, Jumeirah Bay Islands
4. AED 42,194,600 – One Za'Abeel The Residences, Zaabeel First
5. AED 21,117,000 – Serenia Living - Tower 3, Palm Jumeirah

Top villa sales

1. AED 125,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
2. AED 115,000,000 – Jumeirah Bay Islands
3. AED 49,000,000 – Al Bada
4. AED 45,000,000 – Emirates Living
5. AED 44,764,000 – Al Hebiah Fourth

Notes on methodology

Scope. The headline totals and category table take in every property type held in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale breakdown, leading-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 should not be summed across the sections.

Rounding. The headline totals are the definitive rounded figures. Breakdowns at category level are rounded on their own and may not add up precisely to the headline.

Definitions. Price points are medians rather than averages. Year-on-year sets the period against the same period a year before. All values are in AED and areas in square feet.