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Dubai’s real estate sector looks set to end 2019 on a very high note, with property transactions in December already surpassing previous records.
During the last 23 days of the month, the value of real estate deals, which include sales and mortgage transactions for residential and commercial properties in the emirate, already reached more than 15 billion dirhams, according to the published figures by the Dubai Land Department (DLD) compiled by zawya.com.
The figure is higher than the 14 billion worth of deals recorded in November and this could mean that December transactions could be the best month yet for the market. Last month was earlier described as the best-performing period of the year.
Commenting on the latest figures, Haider Tuaima, head of real estate research at ValuStrat, said there has been an uptick in the emirate’s property market since the third quarter of 2018 and that this momentum has continued for the rest of 2019.
“Even if we exclude December, the number of cash-based purchases of homes, both off-plan and ready, was already 25 percent higher than the whole of 2018. Going forward, it would not be a surprise to witness further growth during this buyer-centric phase of the real estate market,” Tuaima told zawya.com.
Property Finder Group came out with updated analysis on Tuesday, saying that there is “definite evidence of improving momentum” in the Dubai real estate market, with the past 12 months, from November 2018 to November 2019, registering a total of 44,590 overall real estate transactions.
It said that the value of properties snapped up by buyers last month hit 9.27 billion dirhams, the highest since January this year. The report did not take into account the sales and mortgage transactions for December this year.
However, the research firm said that when December transactions are added, “it is likely that 2019 will hit a 10-year record for the volume of residential properties sold.”
Property Finder said the volume of real estate transactions from November 2018 to November 2019 is the highest for any 12-month period in the history of Dubai real estate since transaction data was made publicly available.
During the last nine months of the year, a total of 36,799 flats and villas were purchased in Dubai. This is the second-highest since 2017 when 37,338 residential units were sold in total.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda cleofe.maceda@
