Living in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, has become more expensive with residential values climbing 23 percent in 2021, according to analysis from property consultant Knight Frank.
“The theme for 2021 has been the exponential rebounding of Dubai’s luxury residential market. At almost AED2,100 per square foot, the Burj Khalifa falls squarely into this category. Indeed, prices in the world’s tallest building rose by 23 percent last year, compared to a more modest 8 percent for the rest of Dubai,” said Faisal Durrani, partner and head of Middle East research at Knight Frank.
Dubai’s property market is recovering from the impact of Covid-19, and the luxury sector has seen an especially strong rebound. Knight Frank pointed to factors such as year-round sunshine, safety and cosmopolitan lifestyle, all of which are contributing to the city’s attractiveness amongst the world’s wealthy.
“Downtown Dubai too has seen average prices increase by over 17 percent over the last 12 months. Buyers continue to zero in on the city’s most exclusive neighbourhoods, many of whom are new entrants to the market. These are ultra-high-net-worth individuals drawn to Dubai by the fact that the emirate is now one of, if not the safest city in the world given the excellent governance that has so effectively contained the spread of Covid-19,” Durrani said.
The UAE is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. However, the omicron variant has brought a renewed threat, and daily Covid case counts in the last couple of weeks have hit highs not seen in months.
But the UAE, which has tightened some restrictions in response to the spike in cases, still remains an attractive destination for those looking to escape tighter restrictions elsewhere, particularly those looking at the luxury market.
“Despite the perennial risk of oversupply, Dubai remains ironically short of uber-luxury homes,” said Durrani.
Andrew Cummings, partner and head of prime residential sales at Knight Frank Middle East, added: “Burj Khalifa remains the iconic landmark of Dubai. Downtown has seen a resurgence in activity over the last year with demand for apartments soaring as end users sought to be closer to major amenities and investors capitalised on sky-high rental and short-term rental demand.”
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