Dubai Real Estate Market Report — Q1, 2024

Dubai Real Estate Market Report – Q1 2024

Dubai's property market began 2024 at a record clip. Spanning every property type, Q1 recorded 37,339 transactions worth AED 110.45 billion, at a median of AED 1,509/sqft. Focusing on the Apartment, Villa and Commercial market, activity hit 36,414 deals — up 20% on Q1 2023 — with AED 91.09 billion in value, a 24% year-on-year rise.

Both totals represent the strongest opening quarter across the eleven years tracked since 2014. That growth was uneven, though: apartments carried the load, commercial delivered the quickest price gains, and villas were the sole category where deal count fell even as value rose.

Headline figures

Year-on-year performance by category

Apartments powered the expansion. The segment completed 29,531 deals, up 28% year-on-year and 6,380 more than in Q1 2023 — the highest first-quarter volume in the eleven-year series. Value came to AED 57.20 billion (+25%), and the median price firmed to AED 1,638/sqft, itself the highest Q1 reading on record, up 15% over the year and 39% above the 2014 base. The median apartment ticket rose a more modest 5% to AED 1,260,000, indicating the volume surge centred on mid-market stock rather than a broad repricing at the top end.

Villas were the only segment to fall on volume, logging 5,915 transactions — down 6% and 374 fewer deals than a year before. Yet the category was far from soft. Value still gained 22% to AED 32.00 billion, the median price rose to AED 1,226/sqft (up 11% year-on-year and 67% above 2014), and the median villa ticket surged 25% to AED 3,193,000. Fewer homes traded, but each fetched significantly more — a price-led quarter pointing to tight supply rather than waning demand.

Commercial property was small in absolute terms but the momentum leader. Its 968 deals were up 10% (85 more than Q1 2023) and the highest first-quarter total since 2014, while value rose 17% to AED 1.89 billion. Pricing ran hottest here: at AED 1,366/sqft the median was up 34% on the year — the quickest price-per-square-foot gain of the three categories — and the median commercial ticket climbed 35% to AED 1,250,000.

Every category, including plots and buildings

Beyond the three core categories, plots added meaningful weight to the headline totals: 924 land deals produced AED 19.34 billion at a median of AED 516/sqft. That low per-square-foot figure contrasts with a high median ticket of AED 6,000,000, reflecting steady developer and investor demand for land even as built-form prices rise. A single building transaction of AED 20.00 million rounded out the quarter's activity outside apartments, villas and commercial units.

Primary versus resale

Off-plan and primary sales kept leading distribution, capturing 62% of both volume and value: 22,534 primary deals worth AED 56.16 billion, versus 13,880 resale transactions worth AED 34.93 billion. Resale's 38% share of value exactly matched its 38% share of volume, signalling that secondary-market pricing moved in step with the primary market this quarter rather than commanding a premium or trading at a discount.

Where the activity was

By value, Marsa Dubai and Business Bay were level at the top with AED 6.17 billion apiece, ahead of Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid (AED 4.62 billion), Palm Jumeirah (AED 4.61 billion) and Downtown Dubai (AED 4.47 billion). The volume order differed: Al Barsha South Fourth led with 4,051 transactions, ahead of Business Bay (2,893), Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah (2,173), Al Merkadh (1,799) and Marsa Dubai (1,724). Business Bay and Marsa Dubai were the only two areas appearing in the top five on both measures.

Rental market

Rents climbed across the board, and the divide between new and renewed leases was the defining feature. New apartment leases were almost flat in count at 31,396 (+0.60%), yet the median new rent leapt 24% to AED 62,000, while the 39,732 renewals (+13.85%) posted a milder 6.38% rise to AED 50,000 — incoming tenants paid far more than sitting ones. New villa contracts grew 14.18% to 4,001 at a median of AED 155,000 (+10.71%), and new commercial leases reached 5,305 (+6.12%) with rents up 21.18% to AED 106,000. In every segment, new-lease rents ran ahead of renewals, widening the cost of moving.

Supply

Supply leaned heavily toward future stock. Developers launched 43,115 units across 136 projects while delivering 8,154 units from 37 completed projects — a launch-to-delivery ratio of 5.3 and a net 34,961 more units launched than delivered. The pipeline is filling far faster than it clears, pointing to sustained construction but also a sizeable forward supply the market will need to absorb in the years ahead.

Selected launches

• Aeon Tower 2 – Dubai Creek Harbour (Emaar), 262 units
• Binghatti Galaxy - 2 – Al Barsha South Fourth (Binghatti), 148 units
• The Central Downtown-D – Al Barsha South 3 (Aqua Properties), 1,177 units
• Cinderella – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Tanmiyat), 664 units
• Sonate Residences – Al Barsha South Fifth (Condor), 215 units
• Equiti Home-B – Jabal Ali First (Bnh), 302 units
• Royal Regency Suites - 2 – Business Bay (Al Seeb), 238 units
• Cello Residences - Tower B – Al Barsha South Fourth (Taraf Development), 392 units
• The Beachfront Villas By Ellington – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Ellington), 21 units
• Golf Vista Heights – Al Hebiah Fourth (London Gate), 209 units
• … and 126 further projects

Selected completions

• Azizi Riviera 46 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 422 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , A Villas – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 38 units
• Azizi Park Avenue – Nad Al Sheba First (Azizi), 125 units
• Al Waleed Garden 2 – Al Jaddaf (Al Waleed), 173 units
• Luna Residence – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Desert Falcon), 190 units
• Laya Heights – Al Hebiah Second (Akshara Global), 398 units
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City , District One Phase Iii , Residences 11 – Al Merkadh (Meydan), 240 units
• Arabian Ranches Lll - Ruba – Wadi Al Safa 5 (Emaar), 430 units
• Forum Residences – Wadi Al Safa 3 (Varnada), 46 units
• Azizi Riviera 39 – Al Merkadh (Azizi), 172 units
• … and 27 further projects

Most expensive sales

Top apartment sales

1. AED 55,000,000 – Jumeirah Living Marsa Al Arab, Um Suqaim Third
2. AED 50,000,000 – Keturah B2, Al Jaddaf
3. AED 43,898,029 – Baccarat Residence T1, Downtown Dubai
4. AED 40,000,000 – Bulgari Residences 3, Jumeirah Bay Islands
5. AED 37,000,000 – Keturah B1, Al Jaddaf

Top villa sales

1. AED 155,000,000 – Jumeirah Bay Islands
2. AED 146,000,000 – Al Merkadh
3. AED 145,000,000 – Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid
4. AED 128,450,000 – Palm Jumeirah
5. AED 103,170,000 – Al Hebiah Fourth

Notes on methodology

Scope. Headline totals and the category table span every property category in the data, Plot and Building included. The primary/resale split, top-area rankings and the year-on-year series cover Apartment, Villa and Commercial only, so those figures are intentionally smaller than the headline and should not be summed across sections.

Rounding. Headline totals are the authoritative rounded numbers. 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 before. All values in AED; areas in square feet.