Land deals lead the way in Dubai real estate market
Land deals emerged as a major factor in Dubai's real estate market in the first quarter, recording a 193.8 per cent jump in plot sales worth Dh35.5 billion from 2,926 transactions.
Dubai's real estate market has continued its buoyant start to 2025, recording total sales worth Dh142.7 billion in Q1, the second highest quarterly figure on record.
This represented a 30.3 per cent year-on-year leap in value, while the 45,485 overall sales transactions also meant a 22.8 per cent year-on-year increase.
A market update issued on Thursday by fäm Properties revealed that the Q1 results were only fractionally down on the all-time quarterly sales record of Dh147.2 billion from 50,218 transactions in Q4 2024.
Data from DXBinteract shows villa sales were up by 43.1 per cent year-on-year to Dh41.3 billion from 8,369 deals, while apartment sales rose by 12.6 per cent to Dh62.3 billion from 32,884 transactions. Commercial sales were also up by 25.2 per cent to Dh3.6 billion from 1,212 deals.
Rising property values in recent years were highlighted by a Q1 median price of Dh1,563 per sq ft, compared with the Q1 rates of Dh889 in 2021, Dh1,124 in 2022, Dh1,283 in 2023 and Dh1,497 last year.
The rise in land deals underscores the shrinking size of the availability of land in the emirate, experts say. 'The reality is that plots for real estate development in Dubai are increasingly difficult to find, and this has led to land prices in the city soaring in recent years. Compared with COVID times, land prices have increased three or even four times in some areas, driven also by the exceptionally high demand we're witnessing today in off-plan sales. Obviously, off-plan sales are carried out by real estate development companies, which cannot exist without land to develop. Hence, there is fierce competition among these developers to acquire land, making it a key factor in driving land prices higher,' said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties.
'The only scenario in which we will see land prices falling or stabilizing would be if the off-plan real estate market starts to decline. Any slowdown in off-plan prices would have an immediate impact on land prices in Dubai,' he added.
Dubai's Q1 property sales over the last five years have now risen to the current level from Dh21 billion (9,800 transactions) in 2020 to Dh24.6 billion (11,600) in 2021, Dh54.6 billion (20,200) in 2022, Dh89 billion (31,100) in 2023 and Dh109.5 billion (37,000) last year.
The top five performing areas of Dubai in terms of volume in Q1 were:
• Jumeirah Village Circle: 3,605 transactions valued at Dh4.559 billion
• Wadi Al Safa: 3,596 transactions valued Dh7.642 billion
• Business Bay: 2,782 transactions valued at Dh7.265 billion
• Dubai South: 2,676 transactions valued Dh8.745 billion
• Dubai Marina: 2,583 transactions valued at Dh9.284 billion
The most expensive individual property sold in Q1 was a luxury villa at Dubai Hills Estate which fetched Dh140 million. The most expensive apartment sold during the quarter went for Dh116 million at The Rings 1 at Jumeirah Second.
With properties worth Dh1-2 million accounting for 31 per cent of sales (14,242), 26 per cent (11,899) were below Dh1 million, 19 per cent (8,567) between Dh2-3 million, 15 per cent (6,837) between Dh3-5 million, and 9 per cent (3,939) more than Dh5 million.
Overall, first sales from developers significantly outnumbered re-sales in the secondary market - 65 per cent over 35 per cent in terms of volume and 61 per cent against 39 per cent in value.
'Once again we're seeing figures which emphatically underscore the remarkable resilience and strength of Dubai's real estate market, as the consistent growth of recent years continues,' said Al Msaddi. 'This sustained upward trend cements Dubai's position as a prime real estate investment hub, drawing increasing interest from global investors alongside strong demand from local and regional buyers.'
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