Dubai sets new ‘record’ for volume of real estate transactions in past 12 months – report

A total of 44,590 real estate transactions were recorded in Dubai between November 2018 and November 2019, setting a new “record” for the volume of deals during a 12-month period, a new report has said.

“The past 12 months have seen the maximum volume of transactions for this timeframe in the history of Dubai real estate”, said the report by Data Finder – part of the Property Finder Group- which analysed government data.

A total of 36,799 residential properties have been sold in Dubai from January until November 30 this year, according to publicly available government data.

This is the second highest since 2017 when 37,338 residential units were sold in total. However, when December transactions are added, it is likely that 2019 will hit a 10-year record for volume of residential properties sold, the report added.

According to a recent report by Property Finder, property sales in Dubai hit a 11-year high of 5,037 deals in November, up from 4,774 deals in October and 4,007 transactions in September.

In terms of the value of real estate transactions as well, November led the list, with deals worth Dhs9.27bn registered in Dubai. The second best month so far this year was February, with property transactions worth Dhs8.71bn, followed by October (Dhs8.68bn).

The lowest so far was August, which saw property deals worth Dhs4.27bn. “This can be attributed to the general transactional lull during the summer months,” the report said.

Cumulatively, sales transactions worth Dhs76.6bn have been registered in Dubai until November 30 this year. This excludes mortgage transactions, land grants and other transactions.

The numbers indicate that the Dubai property market is “gearing up for an upturn ahead of Expo 2020”, the report stated.

“The increasing sales momentum is an indication of increasing consumer confidence in the market. This comes on the back of declining property prices, an excess amount of supply in the market, favourable payment plans from developers and low interest rates from mortgage providers. All these combined are driving confidence among buyers to invest in Dubai property a few months ahead of Expo 2020,” it elaborated.

Reforms initiated by the government and the UAE Central Bank such as the 10-year gold card permanent residency visa, the retirement visa, property purchase visa, and the Mollak system have also boosted demand.

The decision to reduce the early settlement fee for mortgages and remove the maximum age to repay mortgages have also met with a positive response, the report stated.

“I believe we will continue to see transactions rise month on month going into 2020 and see a nice mix of investors and end-users purchasing property in Dubai,” said Lynnette Abad, director of Research and Data, Property Finder.

“Prices should also start to stabilise as we move into H2 of 2020,” she said.