Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
For the second year in a row, the Dubai real estate market defied its historic seasonal patterns marked by a slowdown during summer, experiencing instead continued growth in property prices, transaction volumes, and mortgage activity, according to the latest monthly update by Property Monitor.
Its report revealed that the real estate market in Dubai has reached new heights in July 2024, achieving record-breaking figures for both sales and mortgage loan volumes.
According to the Property Monitor Dynamic Price Index (DPI), property prices in Dubai grew by 1.22% month-on-month in July, reaching Dh1,397 per square foot.
This figure marks a 13.2% increase over the previous market peak in September 2014. July Sets New Records Its July report also showed that sales transactions soared by 12.8% compared to June 2024, totalling 16,113 transactions-setting a new record for July and the second highest monthly total ever recorded.
Residential properties dominated the market, accounting for 93.4% of all sales with 15,046 transactions. In comparison, commercial property types, including hotel apartments, office spaces, and vacant land, made up a smaller portion of the transactions.
Mortgage transaction volumes reached an unprecedented level, with 4,033 loans recorded in July-a 20.2% increase from June and the second highest monthly total on record, following March 2023.
New purchase mortgages made up 53.0% of this activity, while refinancing and equity release loans accounted for 33.8%. Bulk loans, typically used by developers and large investors, represented 13.2% of the total.
Off-plan Sales Dominate Market
Off-plan sales continued to lead the market, with 9,393 Oqood transactions in July, reflecting a 17.1% increase from the previous month and capturing 58.3% of the market share.
Title Deed sales also grew by 7.2%, holding a 41.7% share of all transactions. "While Oqood transactions are used to measure the off-plan market, several villa and townhouse sales are presented in the Dubai Land Department data as being issued with Title Deeds and as completed properties-instead of being under construction and sold off-plan.
After adjusting for this technicality, off-plan transactions secure an even larger market share of 67.1%," the report stated. It also pointed out that preliminary figures indicate that the Dubai real estate market also saw the introduction of nearly 9,000 new off-plan units in July, contributing to a record-breaking total of approximately 68,000 units across over 220 projects this year.
"This extraordinary level of activity in the off-plan market shows no signs of abating, and is projected to continue at this pace, well on track to surpass last year's total of ~96,000 units," the report said.
Future Outlook
Looking ahead, the report anticipates that the Dubai real estate market will maintain its upward trajectory with continued moderate price growth and high transaction volumes. While no immediate slowdown is predicted, the gap between off-plan and completed property sales may widen due to a strong pipeline of new projects and a steady supply of competitively priced inventory.
As 2024 progresses, the Dubai real estate market is on track to surpass 170,000 sales by the end of the year. "This exceptional activity has been driven by the expansion of the new development market, with more off-plan launches than days in the year-encouragingly, robust demand from both investors and end- users has resulted in high absorption and sales velocity rates for the majority of projects," the report stated.
