Dubai property transactions hit four-year high

Dubai - Dubai continues to attract investors while price correction and attractive bargains and long-term payment options influence several end-users to purchase property in the city.

Dubai real estate is coming out of the woods as residential sales transactions hit four-year high during the summer season this year, latest data shows.

Dubai home sales have performed well, both in terms of volume and value, during June, July and August this year as investors and end-users took the advantage of price correction and became a property-owner in one of the best cities of the world.

Residential sales transactions posted 33.46 per cent year-on-year growth as Dubai witnessed 8,833 deals compared to 6,618 in corresponding period last year, according to statistics of Data Finder, a data platform under the Property Finder Group. The emirate recorded 8,694 and 7,066 residential deals in similar periods of 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Dubai home sales also hit four-year peak in terms of value as deals worth Dh14.94 billion recorded in 2019 summer season compared to Dh12.58 billion in the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 14.94 per cent. The emirate posted Dh13.25 billion and Dh12.75 billion home sales in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Analysts and experts said property sector has shown solid signs of recovery at an appropriate time when countdown for Expo 2020, a growth driver for the real estate industry, will start next month. They are of the opinion that Dubai continues to attract investors while price correction and attractive bargains and long-term payment options influence several end-users to purchase property in the city.

Lynnette Abad, director of Research and Data, Property Finder, said prices today are very attractive and now is a good time to buy and negotiate a very attractive deal.

"This year especially, we have seen many end-users get on the property ladder, particularly consumers who have been sitting on the fence deciding when was a good time to buy. This, coupled with a large amount of completed supply in the affordable segment, has made buying achievable," she said.

Experts said Dubai property staged a solid recovery as both the off-plan and ready categories of the housing market have performed well in summer season this year. These include the sales of apartments, hotel apartments, villas, townhouses and residential land plots.

The Dubai ready, secondary housing market has had its best run in the summer months this year, compared to the previous three years. It registered a strong 20.43 per cent year-on-year growth by posting 3,801 sales transactions in the summer of 2019, as against 3,156 deals in similar period last year. The emirate registered 2,596 deals in similar category in 2017 and 2,661 transactions in 2016, according to Data Finder statistics.

In terms of value, the ready, secondary housing market posted Dh7.07 billion transactions in the summer of 2019 compared to Dh7.7 billion in similar period last year.

muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com