Dubai Real Estate Market Report — July, 2023

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – July 2023

No July in Dubai's decade-long record has been busier or richer than July 2023. Counting every asset type, the market registered 11,193 transactions valued at AED 37.80 billion, with a market-wide median of AED 1,374 per square foot. Strip out plots and buildings, and the apartment, villa and commercial segments on their own accounted for 10,879 deals — a 55% rise over July 2022 — and AED 33.14 billion in value, a 102% year-on-year jump that more than doubled the previous July's tally.

Momentum was widespread yet lopsided. Apartments supplied the volume, villas generated the sharpest value gains, and commercial property stood alone in retreating. Having set fresh highs on both deal count and value, this was a July with no equal anywhere in the series.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments led the surge. The segment posted 7,840 transactions, a 57% gain and 2,860 above the previous July — the strongest July volume across the ten-year series. Value rose 71% to AED 16.12 billion. Crucially, this was volume-led rather than price-led: the median sat at AED 1,514 per square foot, a series high for July yet only 2% firmer year on year (and 38% above 2014), while the median ticket in fact softened 4% to AED 1,225,000. Demand poured in, but per-unit pricing held broadly steady.

Villas followed a different script — here price pulled its weight alongside volume. Transactions climbed 61% to 2,738 (1,038 more than a year earlier, another ten-year July peak), yet value rocketed 159% to AED 16.50 billion, enough to nudge ahead of apartments on a fraction of the deals. The median price reached AED 1,230 per square foot, 29% higher on the year and 67% above 2014, while the median ticket leapt 47% to AED 3,000,000. That signals genuine price acceleration, not merely heavier activity.

Commercial was the sole category to decline. Volume eased 13% to 301 deals (45 fewer than a year before) and value dropped 9% to AED 517.63 million. Even so, the picture was not uniformly weak: pricing tightened markedly, the median reaching AED 1,099 per square foot, 45% above the prior year and the highest July reading since 2014 — though still 3% under the 2014 mark. The median ticket climbed 38% to AED 1,050,000. Fewer, larger and dearer deals defined the segment.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Primary versus resale

Off-plan set the pace. Primary sales accounted for 61% of volume and an even larger 69% of value — 6,617 deals worth AED 22.76 billion — whereas resale claimed 39% of volume but just 31% of value, or 4,262 deals worth AED 10.37 billion. With resale's value share lagging its volume share by eight points, secondary-market transactions plainly closed at smaller average tickets than newly launched stock.

Where the activity was

On value, Ghadeer Al Tair reigned at AED 6.76 billion, comfortably clear of Marsa Dubai (AED 2.45 billion), Palm Jumeirah (AED 2.30 billion), Al Merkadh (AED 1.66 billion) and Wadi Al Safa 3 (AED 1.54 billion). Ranked by raw count the order reshuffled: Al Barsha South Fourth came first with 973 deals, then Al Merkadh (899), Al Thanyah Fifth (688), Marsa Dubai (660) and Business Bay (651). Only Al Merkadh and Marsa Dubai featured in both tables.

Rental market

Rents advanced, with new leases outpacing renewals right across the market. Median new-lease apartment rents rose 18.75% to AED 57,000, versus an 8.70% increase across the 11,495 renewals; the 9,705 fresh apartment contracts were up 5.16%. Villas showed the widest gap — new-lease medians rose 24.62% to AED 162,000 while renewals barely shifted at 1.54% (AED 132,000). Commercial new leases gained 19.11% to AED 100,000. The message is unmistakable: arriving tenants are repricing to the market while renewing tenants cling to cheaper legacy rates.

Supply

Supply leaned decisively toward new launches. Developers rolled out 7,478 units across 24 projects, while 3,145 units were completed across 17 projects — a launch-to-delivery ratio near 2.4 and a net 4,333 more units launched than handed over. The pipeline is being replenished faster than it drains.

Launched

• Damac Lagoons - Morocco 1 – Al Hebiah Fifth (Damac), 471 units
• Parkside Views – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Emaar), 389 units
• The Orchard Place - Tower B – Al Barsha South Fourth (Peak Summit), 418 units
• Floarea Residence – Al Barsha South 3 (Mashriq Elite), 206 units
• Belmont Residences – Al Barsha South Fifth (Ellington), 69 units
• The Oasis - Palmiera – Me'Aisem Second (Emaar), 265 units
• Lilium Tower – Al Barsha South Fifth (Tiger), 266 units
• Elysee Heights – Al Barsha South Fourth (Pantheon), 193 units
• Lucky Royale Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Lucky Aeon), 147 units
• Gateway By Premier Choice – Al Safouh Second (P C I Developers), 224 units
• Sobha Creek Vista Heights - Tower B – Al Merkadh (Sobha), 1,354 units
• Golf Residences By Fortimo – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Fortimo), 200 units
• Damac Hills (2) - Farmhouses – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 13 units
• Ra1n Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Object One), 146 units
• Binghatti Amber – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 658 units
• Symbolic Alpha – Wadi Al Safa 2 (Symbolic), 97 units
• Terrazzo Residences Building B – Al Barsha South Fourth (Taraf Development), 211 units
• Damac Lagoons - Morocco 2 – Al Hebiah Fifth (Damac), 554 units
• Orla Infinity By Omniyat – Palm Jumeirah (Omniyat), 20 units
• Binghatti Venus – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 191 units
• The Hamilton – Al Yelayiss 2 (Nshama), 242 units
• Trillionaire Residences By Binghatti – Business Bay (Binghatti), 738 units
• Sls Residences At Palm Jumeirah – Palm Jumeirah (Roya Lifestyle), 114 units
• Bay Residences Dubai Islands - Beach Houses – Dubai Islands (Nakheel), 292 units

Delivered

• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 26 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Azizi Riviera 17 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 215 units
• Azizi Riviera 15 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 254 units
• Pg Upper House – Jabal Ali First (Pg Properties), 105 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 25 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 30 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 23 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Aykon City-Tower B – Business Bay (Damac), 1,237 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 24 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 22 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, District One Phase Iii, Residences 29 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Marwa Heights – Al Barsha South Fourth (New World), 128 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 28 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units
• Azizi Riviera 18 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 282 units
• Westar Azure – Al Barsha South Fourth (Westar), 13 units
• Wavez Residence – Wadi Al Safa 2 (Danube), 434 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 27 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 53 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 420,000,000 – Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Um Suqaim Third
2. AED 52,000,000 – One Za'Abeel Tower, Zaabeel First
3. AED 41,000,000 – Jumeirah Living Marsa Al Arab, Um Suqaim Third
4. AED 26,589,550 – Cavalli Couture - Tower 2, Al Wasl
5. AED 26,403,888 – Seapoint Tower 1, Marsa Dubai

Top villa sales

1. AED 130,000,000 – Emirates Living
2. AED 111,000,000 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
3. AED 90,500,000 – Al Hebiah Fourth
4. AED 68,340,000 – Ghadeer Al Tair
5. AED 68,127,965 – World 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.