The dramatic recovery in Dubai’s property market has helped its biggest property developer to report its highest-ever sales.
Emaar Properties PJSC posted real estate sales of AED26 billion ($7.2bn) in the first nine months of the year – three times the sales for the year-ago period. Sales in its Dubai home market were five times the 2020 figures.
Average home prices in Dubai are rising at the fastest pace since February 2015 and transaction volumes surged 77 percent in August on an annual basis, according to real estate adviser CBRE Group Inc. Dubai is also hosting the World Expo 2020, which it expects will attract foreign capital and revive the economy.
An imbalance between supply and demand in the Middle East’s business hub had led prices to drop more than a third since 2014. It saw the government set up a committee in 2019 to tackle oversupply. The pandemic exacerbated problems last year as many expatriates left Dubai, depressing demand further.
“The resilience of Dubai’s property market is a testament to the UAE’s enduring strength and robust economic performance in 2021,” Emaar said in a statement.
In a previous interview with Arabian Business last month, Emaar Properties founder Mohamed Alabbar (below) said the company was heading for its best year on record, in terms of both volume and revenue.
And the global entrepreneur said the oversupply issues, which have plagued the emirate’s real estate sector for several years, are no longer a pressing issue.
Alabbar said: “On the sales side, possibly this year might be the best year for us in history.” He added that this would be made up of both apartment and villa sales. And he attributed the success to “the pandemic and the reputation of the city”.
The strong rebound prompted the billionaire head of one of the city’s largest developers to say he was “very surprised and shocked to see how things changed”. Next year will be as good as 2021, if not better, as a lot of people moved to the city during the pandemic, Damac Properties PJSC chairman Hussain Sajwani said.
Emaar nine-month numbers:
- Profit: AED2.58bn vs AED2.06bn
- Revenue: AED19.3bn vs AED12.4bn
- Revenue break-up:
- Condominiums sales: AED8.92bn vs AED5.98bn
- Villa sales: AED3.62bn vs AED1.92bn
- Sale of commercial units, plots of land and others: AED2.19bn vs AED1bn
- Hospitality: AED876.8 million vs AED529.5m
- Leased properties, retail and related income: AED3.72bn vs AED2.89bn
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