Dubai real estate retained its appeal as the investors and residents continued to pour money in the emirate to buy a villa or apartment as reflected in the latest official data released on Tuesday.

The emirate recorded 25,972 transactions in first quarter of 2022, marking it the highest number of deals since 2010 registered in a single quarter and the highest volume since first quarter of 2014. It registered 20,539 sales deals worth over $14bln (Dh55.51bln) during the January-March quarter, according to the Mo’asher, Dubai’s official sales and rental performance index that was launched by Dubai Land Department (DLD) in cooperation with Property Finder.

The off-plan market transacted 8,616 properties worth a total of over $4bln (Dh16.12bln) while the secondary market transacted 11,923 properties worth over $10bln (Dh39.39bln) during the quarter.

In March, Dubai real estate had 8,399 sales transactions worth over $5bln (Dh22.58bln), indicating the highest sales deals in the past seven years. This is an 83% increase in total sales transactions compared to March 2021 and a 109% increase in sales value. About 60.16% of total sales in March were for secondary or ready properties.

Ata Shobeiry, chief executive of Zoom Property, said it’s certainly a huge sign of progress for the Dubai property market as it recorded the highest ever transactions in a single quarter for over a decade.

“The second quarter, despite the culmination of Expo 2020, is expected to continue the upward trajectory. I believe apartments will cover their lost ground, while the villa segment will continue its high momentum during the subsequent quarters,” Shobeiry told Khaleej Times on Tuesday.

For rental market, the emirate recorded a total of 160,530 contracts of which 51.89% were new and 48.1% were renewals, reflecting a four per cent increase in total contract volume compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. The annual contracts during the January-March quarter were 79.95% while non-annual contracts accounted for 20.04%.

In March, the sector saw over 44,783 rental contracts in the Dubai market with 60.28% of contracts were new and 39.72% were renewals; 78% belonged to annual contracts and 21% were driven by non-annual agreements.

The most popular apartments rental contracts were for one-bedroom apartments followed by two-bedroom apartments while the most popular villa or townhouse rental contracts were for three bedrooms and four bedrooms, according to Property Finder data.

Jabal Ali First (6,259 contracts), Al Warsan First (6,224), Business Bay (5,056), Naif (5,011) and Al Karama (5,007) remained the most sought-after areas for tenants during the quarter as reflected by the latest data in terms of Ejari registration.

Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay and Jumeirah Village Circle remained the most popular areas searched for apartments sale in first quarter while the top areas searched for villa or townhouses were Dubai Hills Estate, Palm Jumeirah, Arabian Ranches, Damac Hills (Akoya By Damac) and The Springs.

Moreover, the top searched areas for apartment rentals in March were Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, Jumeirah Village Circle and Jumeirah Lake Towers while the top searched areas for villa or townhouses were Dubai Hills Estate, Jumeirah, The Springs, Al Barsha and Arabian Ranches.

In Q1 2022, the overall quarterly index for sales recorded 1.251-point increase and an index price of $322,941 (Dh1,186,002). The apartments quarterly index posted 1.26-point hike with $290,642 (Dh1,067,385) index price while the villas or townhouses quarterly index registered 1.234-point rise and an index price of over $570,000 (Dh2,094,633).

On the other hand, the overall quarterly index for rental in Q1 2022 recorded 0.947-point increase with an index price of Dh51,177. The apartments quarterly index posted 0.967-point hike with $12,784 (Dh46,952) index price while the villas or townhouses quarterly index registered 0.851-point rise and an index price of $35,844 (Dh131,639).

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