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Dubai’s residential real estate sector saw its highest ever transaction volumes for a first quarter in 2022, with a total of 7,865 transactions in March, up 83.4 percent on the same month in 2021.
Real estate services company CBRE said transaction volumes had reached record levels despite increased cost of financing and tightening of payment plans, which have yet to impact transactional volumes, according to its latest Dubai Residential Market Snapshot.
According to CBRE, off-plan sales increased by 94.6 percent and secondary market sales were up by 76.1 percent.
The total transaction volume for 2022 up to March was 19,009.
Average prices were up by 11.3 percent in the year to March 2022, with apartment prices up 10 percent and villa prices up by 20.2 percent.
Average apartment prices in Dubai were AED 1,118 per sq.ft., and villa prices were AED 1,267 per sq. ft., still below the 2014 peak by 26.2 percent and 12.3 percent respectively.
Apartments in Downtown Dubai saw the highest average sales rate per square foot at AED 2,021, while villas on the Palm Jumeirah saw the highest sales rate at AED 2,910.
Average rents in the 12 months to March 2022 have also increased by 13.1 percent, 11.7 percent for apartments and 22.5 percent for villas, with the average apartment rent AED 80,000 and AED 238,441 for villas.
In Q1 2022, Palm Jumeirah had the highest average apartment rent at AED 197,482 per annum, and Al Barari had the highest average villa rent at AED 801,940.
Taimur Khan, head of research, said: “Despite the continued increase in the cost of financing and further tightening of payment plans, we are yet to see this impact transactional activity in Dubai’s residential market.
“In fact, the total number of transactions in March reached 7,865, up from 5,598 a month earlier. As a result, this has been the strongest first quarter on record for Dubai in terms of residential transactions.
“While average prices and average rents continue to increase, we are seeing a moderation in both sales and rental growth rates in the villa segment of the market.”
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
