Dubai’s property market recorded its strongest start to a year, with 12,119 sales transactions to date, according to a report by UAE-based real estate data platform Property Monitor.
The company said that “this was a 17.7 percent increase in transactions compared to 2017, which was the previous best start to a year.”
Last month, the Dubai property market saw a total of 6,346 transactions, which was 43.5 percent greater than any other February on record, according to the company. February sales also grew 9.9 percent on a monthly basis.
Mr. Zhann Jochinke, chief operating officer of Property Monitor remarked that, “Market headwinds and downside risks remain centered around the trajectory of inflation and interest rate rises amid global tensions. While this may affect sentiment and raise a barrier to purchasing for some end-user buyers, we believe that other positive factors will outweigh any increase in the cost of credit and the market will continue its bull run.”
The Property Monitor Dynamic Price Index (DPI) showed that Dubai registered 2,576 off-plan transactions in February, down 4.9 percent compared with January but an increase of 112.9 percent on a yearly basis. “While strengthening on transaction count basis, the market share of off-plan transactions fell to 40.6 percent of the whole from 46.9 percent last month,” the report said.
The company noted that, “However, with the significant amount of new development projects launched in recent months and several additional launches in the pipeline, the market share of off-plan sales is likely to again increase in the coming months.”
In February, more than 3,000 off-plan residential units entered the market for sale. Townhouses represented 58.5 percent by volume of this new inventory, while apartments and villas accounted for 36.8 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, said Property Monitor.
The report further revealed that Emaar Properties led the off-plan market with a market share of 17.3 percent, followed by Damac Properties, with 16.8 percent, and Azizi at 10.8 percent.
