Dubai Real Estate Market Report — May, 2024

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – May 2024

2024 handed Dubai's property market its best-ever May. Taking every property type together, 17,685 deals were completed for AED 46.58 billion, with a citywide median of AED 1,566/sqft — the most active and highest-value May across the eleven-year record.

Confined to apartments, villas and commercial units, the equivalent 17,403 transactions climbed 53% over May 2023, while the AED 40.82 billion they represented rose 42%. Apartments led the surge, yet the momentum was wide-reaching, with each category posting fresh monthly peaks for both volume and price.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments carried the load. The category logged 14,015 sales — a 59% rise on May 2023 and 5,198 more deals than the previous May — the strongest May volume in the eleven-year series. That activity was worth AED 25.84 billion, up 40% on the year, while the median price strengthened to AED 1,727/sqft, a 20% annual gain that leaves it 42% above the 2014 base and, once again, a monthly record for the series. The typical apartment sold for AED 1,309,419, 11% more than a year earlier.

Villas were fewer in number but larger in value. Only 2,842 homes sold, though that marked a 33% increase on a year earlier — 698 extra deals and the highest May villa tally on record. The AED 13.85 billion they produced was up 45%, and with a median of AED 1,303/sqft (17% higher year on year) villa prices now stand 92% above their 2014 baseline — the steepest long-run gain of the three segments. The median villa ticket hit AED 2,998,944, a 16% rise.

Commercial property was the smallest pool yet the hottest on pricing. Its 546 deals — a 37% rise, or 148 more than last May — generated AED 1.14 billion, a 48% leap that beat both apartments (+40%) and villas (+45%). The median rate of AED 1,503/sqft jumped 54% on the year, the steepest annual price move in any category, and sits 43% above 2014; the median ticket held at AED 1,500,000, up 46%. Taken together, every category set both its highest May volume and its highest May price per square foot in the series — a sign of broad-based strength rather than a change in what happened to sell.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Land transactions fall outside the apartment, villa and commercial count but shift substantial sums: 282 plot deals brought in AED 5.76 billion in May, at a median ticket of AED 7,050,000 — comfortably the largest of any category — even though land's AED 527/sqft is the lowest headline rate on the board. Those big-ticket plots are the chief reason the all-property total of AED 46.58 billion exceeds the AED 40.82 billion recorded across apartments, villas and commercial.

Primary versus resale

Developer primary sales led the way, making up 66% of apartment-villa-commercial volume and 65% of value — 11,568 new-build deals worth AED 26.38 billion. Resale took the remainder: 5,835 transactions and AED 14.44 billion, or 34% of volume against a slightly larger 35% of value. That modest skew means secondary-market deals carried somewhat higher average tickets than their activity share alone would suggest.

Where the activity was

Ranked by capital deployed, Marsa Dubai came first at AED 3.26 billion, then Business Bay (AED 2.86 billion), Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (AED 2.61 billion), Wadi Al Safa 5 (AED 2.45 billion) and Ras Al Khor (AED 2.44 billion). The turnover ranking looked different: Al Barsha South Fourth led on count with 1,625 deals, ahead of Al Merkadh (1,397), Business Bay (1,199), Ras Al Khor (1,120) and Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (1,070). Business Bay, Ras Al Khor and Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid feature on both leaderboards, marking them as the month's most consistently busy districts for value and volume alike.

Rental market

Leasing drove rents up, and newly arriving tenants bore the brunt. Apartments recorded 10,803 new contracts (up 8.08%) at a median AED 65,000 — a 22.64% annual leap — while 14,257 renewals (up 16.77%) stuck to a milder AED 52,402 (up 9.17%); that spread shows sitting tenants sheltered from the full force of market repricing. Villas contributed 1,524 new leases (up 9.09%, median AED 163,000) and 1,634 renewals (up 1.74%, median AED 140,297). Commercial leasing strengthened as well, with 1,958 new contracts (up 9.32%) at AED 119,526 (up 19.53%) and 2,309 renewals (up 9.69%) at AED 100,000 (up 19.05%). In every segment, newly signed rents outpaced renewals — and that widening gap between in-place and market rents is the leasing story of the month.

Supply

Supply outstripped completions by a wide margin. Developers launched 15,676 units across 46 projects, versus 2,981 units delivered from 9 projects — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 5.3 and a net 12,695 more units launched than handed over. The pipeline is filling faster than it is draining, signalling continued off-plan availability in the quarters ahead.

Launched

• Damac Hills (2) - Park Greens 2 – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 274 units
• 360 Riverside Crescent – Bukadra (Sobha), 910 units
• Rosemont Residences – Al Barsha South Fifth (Ellington), 49 units
• Jardin Astral – Al Satwa (Galaxy Realty), 44 units
• Arlo – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 434 units
• Lua Residences – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Swank Development), 37 units
• Casa Serene – Al Merkadh (Altus), 4 units
• Vitality Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Segrex), 170 units
• Keturah Mu-12 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Mag), 134 units
• Symbolic Aura – Jabal Ali First (Symbolic), 78 units
• Enqlave By Aqasa – Jabal Ali First (Aqasa Homes Developers), 159 units
• Cove Living Residence By Imtiaz – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Imtiaz), 744 units
• Amali Island – World Islands (Amali), 24 units
• Lucky Oasis Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Lucky Aeon), 144 units
• South Bay 6 Premium – Dubai South (Dubai South), 189 units
• Serra Tower 8 – Wadi Al Safa 4 (Majid Al Futtaim), 352 units
• Skyhills Residences 3 Tower A – Al Barsha South Fourth (Hre), 1,034 units
• Skyhills Residences 2 – Al Barsha South Fourth (Hre), 1,036 units
• Weybridge Gardens 2 – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Leos), 288 units
• Soho The Berkeley – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (Soho), 129 units
• 320 Riverside Crescent – Bukadra (Sobha), 638 units
• Binghatti Phoenix – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 464 units
• Fairway Residences By Prescott – Al Hebiah Fourth (Prescott), 156 units
• Lana On The Park – Al Yelayiss 2 (Nshama), 196 units
• Nad Al Sheba Gardens Phase 6 – Nad Al Sheba First (Nas Estates), 100 units
• Damac Hills (2) - Evergreens – Madinat Hind 4 (Damac), 131 units
• Primero Residences By Main Realty – Jabal Ali First (Main Realty), 86 units
• Electra – Al Barsha South Fourth (Acube), 281 units
• 99 Park Place – Al Barsha South Fourth (Tabeer), 102 units
• Creek Views – Al Jaddaf (Iraz), 108 units
• Century – Business Bay (Ambs), 217 units
• Park Lane By Heilbronn – Al Barsha South Fourth (Heilbronn), 82 units
• Nad Al Sheba Gardens Phase 5 – Nad Al Sheba First (Meraas), 159 units
• 340 Riverside Crescent – Bukadra (Sobha), 771 units
• Samana Lake Views 2 – Me'Aisem First (Samana), 548 units
• 310 Riverside Crescent – Bukadra (Sobha), 913 units
• Saba 4 – Al Thanyah Fifth (Saba Group), 547 units
• Marbella Resort Hotel – World Islands (Kleindienst), 153 units
• Golf Lane – Dubai South (Emaar), 574 units
• 10 Oxford By Iman – Al Barsha South Fourth (Iman Developers), 430 units
• Lagoon Views 8 - Tower B – Al Hebiah Fifth (Damac), 96 units
• Riva Residence – Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah (Vakson), 252 units
• Azura Residences – Dubai Islands (Digo), 148 units
• Tiger Sky Tower – Business Bay (Tiger), 849 units
• Gardens 2 – Al Barsha South 3 (Iman Developers), 223 units
• Diamondz By Danube – Al Thanyah Fifth (Danube), 1,219 units

Delivered

• Grande – Downtown Dubai (Emaar), 1,112 units
• Azizi Riviera 3 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 302 units
• Empire Residence – Al Barsha South Fourth (Ahdaaf), 151 units
• Azizi Riviera 40 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 165 units
• Olivz Residence Block 3 – Al Warsan First (Danube), 411 units
• Loci Residences – Al Barsha South Fourth (Lootah), 126 units
• Pearlz By Danube – Jabal Ali First (Danube), 304 units
• Zazen Gardens – Jabal Ali First (Zazen), 157 units
• The Ivy – Al Barsha South Fifth (Metrical), 253 units

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 80,000,000 – The Address Jbr 2 (Jumeirah Gate Tower 2), Marsa Dubai
2. AED 54,000,000 – Luxury Family Residences 3, Business Bay
3. AED 44,100,000 – Keturah C3, Al Jaddaf
4. AED 38,500,000 – Bulgari Residences 2, Jumeirah Bay Islands
5. AED 30,891,000 – Damac Bay 2 Tower B, Marsa Dubai

Top villa sales

1. AED 165,620,000 – Al Jaddaf
2. AED 105,000,000 – Palm Jumeirah
3. AED 96,000,000 – Al Merkadh
4. AED 73,500,000 – Emirates Living
5. AED 64,552,000 – Al Hebiah Fourth

Notes on methodology

Scope. Headline totals and the category table span every property category recorded in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale split, top-area rankings and the year-on-year series cover only Apartment, Villa and Commercial, so those figures 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 and areas in square feet.