Dubai Real Estate Market Report — April, 2024

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – April 2024

April 2024 was a record month for Dubai real estate, as 11,600 transactions spanning every property type changed hands for a combined AED 32.03 billion at a median of AED 1,554/sqft. Both the deal count and the total value rank as the strongest April readings in the 11-year series.

Narrowed to the apartment, villa and commercial segments, the market recorded 11,351 deals worth AED 26.66 billion — a +45% leap in volume and a +48% rise in value over April 2023. Apartments carried the load.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments drove the expansion. The segment posted 9,686 sales, up +56% year on year and 3,487 above the prior April — the highest April volume in the 11-year series. Value rose in tandem to AED 18.12 billion (+57%), and this was not merely about volume: the median strengthened to AED 1,644/sqft, a +17% annual gain that also stands as the highest April price per square foot on record and sits +28% above the 2014 base. With the median ticket at AED 1,305,575 (+14%), demand and pricing power advanced together.

Villas tell a different tale — one of price rather than count. Volume was broadly flat at 1,393 deals (+1%, merely 15 more than a year before), yet value still jumped +35% to AED 8.08 billion. That divergence owes almost entirely to pricing: the median hit AED 1,251/sqft, up +9% year on year and a striking +59% above 2014 — the highest April figure in the series — while the median ticket climbed +30% to AED 3,475,000. Buyers transacted at much the same pace but paid materially more per home.

Commercial, the smallest segment, quietly notched its own records. The 272 deals (+7%) marked the highest April count since 2014, and value grew +10% to AED 463.70 million. Pricing did the eye-catching work here: the median surged +40% to AED 1,339/sqft — the highest April rate on record and +23% above 2014 — with the median ticket up +41% to AED 1,164,796.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Plots, which fall outside the segment totals above, contributed 249 transactions worth AED 5.37 billion — comfortably above the whole commercial segment by value — at a median of AED 515/sqft and a median ticket of AED 6,401,039, a profile that mirrors the large lot sizes and development-land pricing that distinguish plots from built product.

Primary versus resale

Primary and off-plan sales led activity, taking 65% of volume (7,432 deals) and 60% of value (AED 15.98 billion). Resale made up the remainder — 3,919 deals worth AED 10.69 billion — but outperformed its share, claiming 40% of value from just 35% of transactions. That 5-point skew reflects the higher price points of completed, ready stock.

Where the activity was

Zaabeel First led on value with AED 3.25 billion, roughly twice the next district, Marsa Dubai at AED 1.57 billion, then Al Barsha South Fourth (AED 1.44 billion) and a tie between Palm Jumeirah and Business Bay at AED 1.38 billion apiece. On volume the order rearranges: Al Barsha South Fourth led the count with 1,567 transactions, ahead of Zaabeel First (1,054) and Business Bay (752), with Marsa Dubai (508) and Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (445) rounding out the leaders — a divide that sets the high-ticket districts apart from the high-turnover ones.

Rental market

Rents increased across every segment. New apartment leases carried a median of AED 65,000, up +25% year on year even as new-contract volume slipped -5.04% to 7,673; renewals, by contrast, rose +6.65% to 9,976 at a lower median of AED 50,578 (+7.04%) — the gap that keeps sitting tenants well beneath the prevailing market rate. Villas fetched AED 165,000 on new leases (+11.11%) and commercial AED 110,000 (+15.79%), with per-square-foot rents rising by double digits everywhere, new and renewed alike.

Supply

Developers kept the pipeline hot: 6,950 units across 24 projects were launched versus only 1,451 units delivered from 8 projects — about 4.8 new units for each completion, a net addition of 5,499 units to the forward supply pipeline.

Launched

• California 2 By Sd – Jabal Ali First (Samana), 155 units
• Greenway – Dubai South (Emaar), 232 units
• Starlight Park-Building - D – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Amwaj), 172 units
• Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina – Marsa Dubai (Select Group), 251 units
• Winner Tower – Al Barsha South Fifth (Object One), 138 units
• South Bay 5 Premium – Dubai South (Dubai South), 144 units
• Rove Home Marasi Drive – Business Bay (Irth), 811 units
• Damac Lagoons - Lagoon Views 6 – Al Hebiah Fifth (Damac), 48 units
• Riwa Building 3 – Um Suqaim Third (Meraas), 244 units
• Ozone 1 Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Object One), 272 units
• The Oasis - Palmiera 2 – Me'Aisem Second (Emaar), 56 units
• Hatimi Residences By Fakhruddin – Dubai Islands (Fakhruddin), 116 units
• Karl Lagerfeld Villas By Taraf – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Taraf Development), 51 units
• Binghatti Hills - 2 – Al Barsha South 2 (Binghatti), 1,701 units
• Edgewater Residences 3 - Building C – Dubai Islands (Mgs Development), 247 units
• Milestone Residences – Al Barsha South Fifth (Axiom Prime), 54 units
• The Stella Residences – Jabal Ali First (Algouta), 236 units
• Aba Lux Living – Marsa Dubai (Aba Development), 419 units
• Damac City 2 – Al Wasl (Damac), 753 units
• Sky Livings By Peace Homes – Al Barsha South Fourth (Peace Homes), 180 units
• Wadi 645 – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Greenside Development), 70 units
• Valo – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 291 units
• The Oasis - Mirage – Me'Aisem Second (Emaar), 204 units
• Bliss Homes – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Rashed Aljabri), 105 units

Delivered

• Topaz Residences 2 – Nadd Hessa (Ggico), 202 units
• Marquis Signature – Al Barsha South 3 (2020 Holdings), 91 units
• Fawad Azizi Residence – Al Jaddaf (Azizi), 413 units
• Celia Residence – Al Hebiah Second (Abou Eid), 111 units
• Confident Lancaster – Wadi Al Safa 2 (Vision Developments), 81 units
• Profile Residence – Al Hebiah Fourth (Profile Residence Ltd), 142 units
• La Rosa 6 – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Dubai Properties), 272 units
• Prime Gardens – Al Barsha South 3 (Prescott), 139 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 65,000,000 – The Rings - 1, Jumeirah Second
2. AED 42,750,000 – Keturah C2, Al Jaddaf
3. AED 39,550,000 – Bridge Sky, Downtown Dubai
4. AED 37,500,000 – The Address Residences Dubai Opera T1, Downtown Dubai
5. AED 34,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 2, Jumeirah Bay Islands

Top villa sales

1. AED 148,000,000 – Emirates Living
2. AED 69,530,000 – Al Hebiah Fourth
3. AED 64,000,000 – Al Merkadh
4. AED 63,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
5. AED 59,890,000 – Ghadeer Al Tair

Notes on methodology

Scope. The headline totals and category table span every property category in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale breakdown, top-area rankings and year-on-year series cover Apartment, Villa and Commercial alone, so those numbers are intentionally smaller than the headline and should not 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 same period twelve months before. All values are in AED; areas in square feet.