Dubai real estate deals reach near 7-year highs at the end of 2020

Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform of Property Finder, said December saw 2,485 secondary transactions worth AED6.12 billion, 9.7 percent more than November, which was already a record breaking month.

The figures showed that April and May were the lowest months historically for secondary sales because of the lockdown in Dubai, but since the easing in restrictions, secondary residential real estate sales have been on the rise, peaking in November with 2,179 deals and then in December with 2,485 transactions, the highest in six years and nine months.

Data Finder said that despite the drawbacks the market had from the lockdown, the restricted movement and market conditions, 2020 did better than expected in terms of numbers.

A total of 35,434 transactions took place last year worth AED72.49 billion, with 14,749 of these for off-plan properties and 20,685 were for secondary/ready properties, worth AED20.31 billion and AED52.18 billion respectively.

For Dubai, Q4 was the strongest quarter in 2020 and helped the year recover the most in terms of volume and value with 11,065 sales transactions worth AED22.07 billion.

Looking at mortgages for 2020, there were a total of 12,978 transactions worth AED87.39 billion. Almost 100 percent of these were for secondary/ready property.

A total of 35,434 real estate transactions took place last year in Dubai worth AED72.49 billion

“This increased shift in ready property is something we have seen throughout the year as more and more people are now opting to buy a place to live in, rather than rent,” said Lynnette Abad, director of Research & Data at Property Finder.

“Residents have always been hesitant to purchase property here in Dubai, they didn’t know if they would stay here for a long period of time nor what their situation would be. It’s been a reaction of many scenarios in 2020 which have caused the secondary/ready market to excel – proactive government initiatives, affordable housing prices, residents looking for more space or to upgrade because they are spending so much time at home and more supply to add to the offerings,” she added.

Last week, Knight Frank said residential real estate prices fell faster in Dubai than any other major city in the world in the year to October but villa values are starting to see a turnaround in the emirate.

While Knight Frank’s latest Global Residential Cities Index for Q3 2020 showed that prices in Dubai fell by 8.1 percent in the past 12 months, positioning it at the bottom of a global list of 150 cities, it’s a different story on Palm Jumeirah.

Lynnette Abad, director of Research & Data at Property Finder (left), and Taimur Khan, associate partner, head of research, Knight Frank

Taimur Khan, associate partner, head of research, Knight Frank, told Arabian Business that while the headline data shows that average prices continued to fall in the year to November, villa prices have increased by 1.5 percent over this period.

Established neighbourhoods with limited levels of new supply, such as the Palm Jumeirah, are also seeing early signs of market recovery, where both apartment and villa prices increased 6.2 percent and 4.2 percent respectively in the six months to November 2020.

Separately, consultants ValuStrat said average values in Dubai slipped by just 0.1 percent in December, the lowest rate for three years.

Its VPI – Residential Capital Values for Dubai index stood at a stable 65.3 points, although this was still down by 13.8 percent on an annual basis.