Dubai records 9.9% rise in Q1 property transactions; top 5 areas revealed

A total of 10,243 real estate transactions were recorded in Dubai during the first quarter of 2020, up 9.94 per cent compared to 9,317 transactions in Q1 2019, according to a new report.

It marks the highest number of sales transactions registered in Q1 in Dubai since 2017, when 11,910 transactions were recorded, the report by real estate platform Property Finder found.

Specifically in March, 3,124 sales transactions worth Dhs6.99bn were recorded.

So far this year, mortgage registrations have been “consistently higher than 2019 on a weekly basis”, the report stated.

In March alone, more than 1,209 mortgage registrations were recorded, the highest since October 2019 and 24.8 per cent more on a year-on-year basis.

“In H2 2019, we started to see an upward shift in sales transactions with multiple record breaking months in regards to sales volumes,” said Lynnette Abad, director of Data and Research, Property Finder.

“This trend continued into Q1 2020, with transaction volumes increasing month-on-month. During the current situation, we have obviously seen a slow down in transactions, however due to the governments proactive, swift, extreme efforts and policies I believe we will get through this tough period quicker than most and the real estate market will start to transact again and will continue the trend where it left off in Q1.”

Top 5 areas

The top five areas which witnessed the highest overall property sales transactions in March 2020 were Downtown Burj Khalifa (223 transactions), Business Bay (217), Dubai Marina (182), Mohammed Bin Rashid City (145) and Jumeirah Village Circle (132).

For off-plan sales, the top five areas in Dubai in March were Business Bay (149), Downtown Burj Khalifa (144), Mohammed Bin Rashid City (120), Jumeirah Village Circle (88) and Palm Jumeirah (70).

On the secondary market, areas that witnessed the most sales last month were Dubai Marina (147), International City (109), Downtown Burj Khalifa (79), Business Bay (68) and Jumeirah Beach Residence (66).

In March, the most popular areas for villas/townhouses were Dubai Hills Estate (53 units), Dubai South (37), Akoya Oxygen (35), Arabian Ranches 3 (34) and Mohammed Bin Rashid City (29).

In the apartment market, buildings that witnessed the most sales were Burj Crown in Downtown Burj Khalifa (90 units), Se7en Residences, Palm Jumeirah (68), The Terraces, Sobha Hartland (52), Seven City, Jumeirah Lakes Towers (44) and Zada Tower, Business Bay (40).