Dubai Real Estate Deals Hit 11-Year High In 2019

Dubai registered a total of 41,988 real estate transactions in 2019, marking the highest number of sales transactions registered annually in Dubai since 2008, said Property Finder, a leading property portal in Mena.

The number of property deals during 2019 also marks a growth of 20 per cent in the volume of registered property sales transactions compared to 34,961 transactions in 2018, according to Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder Group.

There were 11,662 property sales transactions registered in Dubai in 2008. The Dubai real estate market has, therefore, grown by 260 per cent in the past 11 years in terms of the volume of transactions. The second highest number of property sales transactions registered in Dubai since 2008 was in 2017 (40,649).
This news comes on the heels of recent reports about the Dubai property market regaining momentum, especially after the announcement of the formation of the Higher Real Estate Committee to rebalance supply and demand, back in September 2019. The committee helped inspire market confidence, with both October and November 2019 seeing record number of transactions – 4,774 and 5,037, respectively.

December 2019 clocked in 2,989 registered property sales transactions. Other good months for property sales in Dubai last year were July (4,234), September (4,007) and May (3,512).

“Going into 2020 and leading up to the Expo, we should continue to see transaction levels increase and prices start to stabilise in certain areas. We have already started to see certain market dynamics shift as a direct effect from Expo and these trends will most likely continue throughout the year,” said Lynnette Abad, director of Data and Research, Property Finder.

Off-plan vs secondary transactions

There continues to be a preference for off-plan properties, with this asset class accounting for an overall 23,643 transactions in 2019. This could be because of attractive prices and incentives offered by developers such as a waiver of service fees, a wide range of post-handover payment plans, discount on registration charges and commissions, guaranteed rental returns, among others. However, new off-plan launches were considerably down from their 2017 and 2018 levels.

With several potential buyers still unable to afford the down payment stipulated by the UAE Central Bank to qualify for a mortgage, purchasers are increasingly opting for developer-sponsored payment plans to fund their off-plan properties. This has resulted in several first-time homebuyers getting on the property ladder.

Dubai registered 18,345 transactions in the secondary market last year. With new homes becoming completed thick and fast, developers are forced to come up with rent-to-own schemes and other initiatives to make sure that they are not left with unsold, ready units. This makes it a perfect buyer’s market, with attractive prices, good deals and plenty of options to choose from. However, in such schemes, the price of a property is typically higher than a comparable property currently on the market.

As per Data Finder project and supply data, there were over 45,000 units completed in 2019 which was the highest amount of units completed in one year over the last five years.

Meanwhile, the top 5 areas which witnessed the highest overall property sales transactions in 2019 were Business Bay (3,146), Downtown Burj Khalifa (2,816), Dubai Creek Harbour (2,492), Dubai Hills Estate (2,373) and Dubai South (2,048).

For off-plan sales, the top 5 performing areas in Dubai were Dubai Creek Harbour (2,423 transactions), Downtown (2,088), Dubai Hills Estate (1,949), Dubai South (1,942) and Business Bay (1,811).

On the secondary market, areas that witnessed the most sales were International City (1,342), Business Bay (1,335), Dubai Marina (1,280), Jumeirah Village Circle (1,108) and Jumeirah Lakes Towers (851).