Dubai Real Estate Market Report — Q1, 2023

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – Q1 2023

Dubai's property market began 2023 at record speed. Counting every property type, 31,172 transactions were completed in Q1 2023 for a combined AED 89.21 billion — each the best opening quarter across the ten-year series. Focusing on the core apartment, villa and commercial segments, volumes rose +55% year on year to 30,323 deals, while value leapt +68% to AED 73.58 billion.

Across the whole market the median came in at AED 1,286/sqft. Apartments carried the transaction count, yet villas claimed the steepest price gains — a quarter shaped by broad-based demand rather than across-the-board price inflation.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments powered the expansion. The segment recorded 23,151 sales, a +76% rise on Q1 2022 and the biggest Q1 apartment tally in the ten-year series — 10,033 more transactions than a year before. Value almost doubled, climbing +95% to AED 45.70 billion. Pricing bucked the market's upward drift: the median softened -2% to AED 1,420/sqft, though that remains +21% above the 2014 baseline. With the typical ticket up a modest +4% to AED 1,200,000, apartments were a tale of breadth, not price escalation.

Villas offered a steadier volume picture but led clearly on price. Deals grew +9% to 6,289 — the highest Q1 villa count in the series and 540 ahead of the previous year — as value advanced +37% to AED 26.27 billion. In contrast to apartments, villa pricing surged: the median hit AED 1,106/sqft, +23% higher year on year and +50% above 2014, the strongest Q1 price per square foot in the ten-year series. The median villa ticket rose +29% to AED 2,560,000.

The far smaller commercial segment also opened strongly. Its 883 deals — up +28%, the busiest Q1 since 2015 — were worth AED 1.62 billion, a +47% increase. The median of AED 1,022/sqft climbed +20%, the highest Q1 reading since 2015 even while remaining -3% under the 2014 level, and the median commercial ticket hit AED 928,533, up +14%.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Plots were the quarter's understated heavyweight: a mere 849 sales produced AED 15.63 billion in value, on a median ticket of AED 5,500,000 and a land-basis median of AED 456/sqft. Much of the distance between the all-property headline totals and the narrower apartment-villa-commercial figures comes from land dealing.

Primary versus resale

The primary market set the pace. New-build sales represented 61% of volume and 60% of value — 18,402 deals worth AED 44.18 billion — while resale delivered the remaining 39% of volume and a fractionally larger 40% of value, or 11,921 transactions totalling AED 29.41 billion. Resale's slightly higher value share hints at firmer average pricing on completed stock.

Where the activity was

Marsa Dubai headed the value table at AED 7.84 billion, ahead of Palm Jumeirah on AED 5.87 billion and Business Bay on AED 4.89 billion, with Al Hebiah Fifth (AED 4.47 billion) and Downtown Dubai (AED 4.46 billion) not far behind. The order shifts by deal count: Al Barsha South Fourth came first with 3,275 transactions, then Business Bay (2,743) and Marsa Dubai (2,255), with Dubai Creek Harbour and Al Hebiah Fifth rounding out the top five — established waterfront districts ruling on value while high-volume communities powered deal count.

Rental market

Rental demand skewed toward renewals as tenants held their ground against climbing rents. New apartment leases slipped -7.31% to 31,209 contracts even as renewals surged +30.15% to 34,898, and the median new apartment rent grew +16.28% to AED 50,000 versus a milder +4.44% for renewals. Villa rents followed the same path, the new median rising +16.67% to AED 140,000, while new commercial leases eased -7.29% to 4,999 at a median of AED 87,475, up +8.26%.

Supply

Developers stayed firmly in launch mode: 18,420 units across 65 projects were launched versus 10,824 units completed from 29 projects — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 1.7 and a net 7,596 more units launched than delivered. The pipeline is refilling faster than it clears.

Selected launches

• Pier 8 – Marsa Dubai (Al Reem), 341 units
• Neva Residences – Al Barsha South Fourth (Tiger), 409 units
• Signature Mansions – Me'Aisem First (Signature Developers), 18 units
• Creek Beach - Savanna Building 3 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 643 units
• Damac Bay - Tower C – Marsa Dubai (Damac), 734 units
• Design Quarter - Tower C – Zaabeel Second (Meraas), 558 units
• Al Helal Al Zahaby 3 – Warsan Fourth (Al Helal Al Zahaby), 67 units
• Beverly Boulevard – Al Barsha South 3 (H M B Homes), 271 units
• One Crescent – Palm Jumeirah (Ahs Canal), 25 units
• Hadley Heights – Al Barsha South Fourth (Leos), 219 units
• … and 55 further projects

Selected completions

• Myka Residence – Me'Aisem First (Myka Luxe), 120 units
• Blue Wave – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Tiger), 601 units
• Surf At Creek Beach Building 2 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 180 units
• Arabian Ranches Iii - Joy – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Emaar), 486 units
• Bayshore At Creek Beach Building 4 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 320 units
• Breeze At Creek Beach Building 3 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 214 units
• Chaimaa Avenue 2 – Al Barsha South Fourth (Deva), 93 units
• Summer At Creek Beach Building 4 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 328 units
• Sunset At Creek Beach Building 3 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 163 units
• Address Harbour Point Tower 2 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 921 units
• … and 19 further projects

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 65,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 4, Jumeirah Bay Islands
2. AED 60,808,800 – Palm Beach Towers- 3, Palm Jumeirah
3. AED 51,903,000 – Bluewaters Bay - Building 1, Marsa Dubai
4. AED 47,500,000 – The Address Jbr 2 (Jumeirah Gate Tower 2), Marsa Dubai
5. AED 45,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 5, Jumeirah Bay Islands

Top villa sales

1. AED 183,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
2. AED 115,000,000 – Jumeirah Bay Islands
3. AED 72,000,000 – Wadi Al Safa 3
4. AED 70,000,000 – Emirates Living
5. AED 54,000,000 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid

Notes on methodology

Scope. The headline totals and category table take in every property category captured in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale breakdown, top-area rankings and year-on-year series span Apartment, Villa and Commercial alone, so those numbers are intentionally smaller than the headline and shouldn't 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 exactly 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 in square feet.