Transactions Soar to AED 62.1 Billion as UAE Branded Residences Attract Global Capital
The UAE's real estate market continues to set fresh records in 2025, remarks Josh Gilbert, Market Analyst at eToro. April alone saw AED 62.1 billion in real estate transactions, highlighting growing demand across residential, commercial, and luxury segments. One area in particular gaining attention is the branded residences market, which is quickly becoming the hottest thing in the UAE's luxury property sector.
According to recent data, Abu Dhabi's branded residences quadrupled over the past year, and luxury sales topped AED 6.3 billion in 2024. The growth in branded residences across the UAE reflects growing demand from affluent investors and high-net-worth individuals seeking exclusivity. This surge is not just reshaping the skyline but also creating compelling opportunities for listed real estate developers.
Emaar is arguably the biggest beneficiary of the UAE's real estate upswing. The company is everywhere across the skyline in Dubai and is at the forefront of branded residence development with high-profile projects like Armani Residences, The Address, and Palace Residences. These properties have leveraged partnerships with global luxury brands to offer a premium lifestyle, which is appealing to international investors.
The company is continuing to move from strength to strength with ongoing expansions in Downtown Dubai, Dubai Hills, and the Marina. With the city's record-breaking transaction volumes and continued influx of wealthy buyers, Emaar's diversified portfolio and brand power position it strongly for further growth. This is reflected in Emaar's share price, up over 60% in the last 12 months.
Aldar, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, is increasingly mirroring Dubai's model by embracing branded residences. The recently announced Nobu Residences on Saadiyat Island adds to its growing luxury pipeline. Saadiyat is emerging as a luxury hub, and Aldar is taking full advantage of this trend.
It's not just Saadiyat, though. Aldar continues to build a broader presence in the UAE luxury market. Its strategy to work with iconic global brands aligns with the rising demand for these ultra-premium homes. The growth of branded residences in Abu Dhabi suggests that the capital is catching up to Dubai's pace, which could allow Aldar to unlock meaningful value for investors.
The growth in the UAE real estate market reflects solid fundamentals of robust population growth, surging tourism, ongoing efforts to diversify the economy and the appeal of the biggest corporate names in the world, underscored by these branded residences.
For investors, this opens new avenues for growth, particularly through developers with exposure to high-end and branded projects. Emaar, Aldar, and Deyaar are each positioned to benefit from this demand in different ways, making them worth watching as Dubai and Abu Dhabi continue to attract global capital into their real estate markets.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wamda
an hour ago
- Wamda
AI-powered proptech Prop-AI secures $1.5 million pre-seed
UAE-based proptech Prop-AI has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round, led by Plus VC, with participation from Joa Capital, Select Ventures, Oraseya Capital, Plug & Play, and angel investors from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Founded in 2023 by Ranime El Skaff and Christian Kunz, Prop-AI's platform uses AI and machine learning to automate property search, evaluation, and decision-making for buyers, investors, and professionals. Prop-AI will use the funds to deepen regional data integrations, enhance its AI infrastructure, launch new enterprise tools, and scale across the MENA region and Europe. Press release: Prop-AI, the AI-powered platform revolutionising how people discover, evaluate, and purchase real estate, has successfully closed its pre-seed funding round, securing $1.5 million from a distinguished group of regional and global investors. The funding round was led by Plus VC, the most active VC in the MENA region, with participation from leading venture capital firms Joa Capital, Select Ventures, Oraseya Capital, and Plug & Play, alongside strategic angel investors and family offices from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Dubai, Prop-AI is at the forefront of a new wave of PropTech innovation. Its platform automates and enhances property searches, evaluations, and presentations, harnessing advanced AI and machine learning to help everybody, from first-time buyers to institutional investors, make confident decisions in complex and fast-paced markets. 'Our mission is to build the 'Bloomberg of Real Estate',' said Ranime El-Skaff, CEO of Prop-AI. 'Real estate is the world's largest asset class yet remains one of the least digitised and data-driven. At Prop-AI, we are truly transforming how real estate investment decisions are made, not just for the region, but globally." 'We are grateful for the trust placed in us by an exceptional group of regional and international investors. Their belief in our vision and their strategic support are not only a validation of the work we have done so far but also a powerful motivation as we push the boundaries of what's possible in real estate through AI. This funding milestone enables us to accelerate our vision of empowering individuals, institutions, and even autonomous AI systems to invest in real estate with confidence, backed by the most comprehensive data and insights available.' Prop-AI has more than tripled its revenue in Q1 2025 and it was recently awarded the prestigious AI Seal of Excellence from the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence, the first PropTech to earn the distinction, recognising its contribution to the UAE's broader vision of becoming a global AI innovation hub. The new capital will enable Prop-AI to expand its regional data integration, continue developing its tech and AI capabilities and forge key partnerships with real estate developers, brokerages, and financial institutions across the MENA region and beyond. The funding announcement comes as Prop-AI rolls out a revamped UI/UX and powerful new features, including an interactive investor map pulling in all key data for investors and owners, making it easier to navigate the complex real estate landscape intuitively and backed with data. Hasan Haider, Managing Partner at +VC, said, "Prop-AI is at the forefront of PropTech, blending cutting-edge AI with strong market insight. The team's vision, product execution, and market timing are impressive. As real estate becomes increasingly digital and data-driven, Prop-AI is well-positioned to lead the next wave of intelligent PropTech solutions across the Middle East and beyond. We're proud to support Ranime, Christian and the team as they scale their platform and bring greater transparency to the real estate industry.' Julien Plouzeau, Senior Partner at Oraseya Capital, said, "We believe Prop-AI is solving a huge pain point in real estate by giving people the tools to understand the market as investors, not just buyers. We're excited to support their mission of bringing greater intelligence and accessibility to the sector. Their technology has the potential to reshape how decisions are made across the entire real estate value chain.' 'This funding marks a key milestone in our journey to build the most trusted AI infrastructure for real estate,' said Christian Kunz, Co-founder of Prop-AI. 'We're focused on the launch of our highly anticipated Prop-AI Business platform and APIs for real estate professionals and introducing the region's most advanced Agentic AI for Real Estate within the coming months. These innovations will make intelligent, data-driven decision-making accessible to investors, real estate professionals, and eventually autonomous AI systems, setting a new standard for real estate investing in the region and globally.'
Al Bawaba
2 hours ago
- Al Bawaba
UAE-IX Powered by DE-CIX Introduces 400 Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity, Strengthening Position as the Largest Internet Exchange in the Middle East
datamena, carrier neutral data centre and connectivity platform from du, the leading telecom and digital services provider, and DE-CIX, the global leader in Internet Exchange (IX) operations, announced a significant upgrade to the UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX, making it the first IX in the region to offer 400 Gigabit Ethernet (400 GE) access. This enhancement solidifies the UAE-IX's position as the largest and most advanced Internet Exchange in the Middle East, enabling unmatched connectivity and interconnection capabilities for enterprises, carriers, and content providers across the GCC and the last year alone, connected customer capacity on the UAE-IX grew by two terabits, representing a 30% increase. With over six terabits of aggregate connected capacity and close to 110 participating networks—including Internet service providers, carriers, cloud platforms, content providers, and global enterprises—the exchange has evolved into a critical digital infrastructure hub for the Benkirane, Chief Commercial Officer at du, said: 'We are proud to partner with DE-CIX in leading digital growth in the Middle East with the upgrade of the UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX to 400 GE access. It is our vision to foster a seamlessly interconnected landscape where businesses and consumers alike can benefit from unparalleled Internet exchange capabilities, heightened performance, and robust security. This milestone aligns with our commitment to maintaining the UAE-IX as a pioneer in interconnection and marks a transformative leap for regional digital ecosystems.'The UAE-IX stands out not only as a leading peering exchange but also as a provider of advanced enterprise-grade interconnection services, including cloud exchanges, cloud routing, and application connectivity such as the Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS).Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX said: 'The UAE-IX today stands as a global Internet hub, bringing together the network operators, content, applications, and cloud services to serve the entire GCC region with resilient and low latency connectivity. This upgrade further reinforces the importance of the UAE-IX, now ready to serve the rising demand for everything digital. The excellent collaboration with our partner du has enabled the UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX to shine as the most important aggregation point for network interconnection in the Middle East. I look forward to a bright future working together for the next decade of digital development.'DE-CIX, renowned for its neutral interconnection ecosystem and extensive global footprint, has been active in the Middle East for over a decade, with IX operations spanning Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE. The UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX in Dubai is operated under the DE-CIX as a Service (DaaS) model, offering a turnkey solution for partners—including carriers and data center operators—through comprehensive services such as setup, maintenance, provisioning, marketing, and sales support. This upgrade is set to empower regional businesses, foster technological advancement, and support the rapidly growing demand for high-performance, low-latency digital connectivity, paving the way for continued innovation and growth in the Middle East.
Al Bawaba
2 hours ago
- Al Bawaba
ASUS Addresses the Growing Adoption of AI in Education at ‘The Tech Social' Event
ASUS, in collaboration with its partner MarsSys, successfully hosted 'The Tech Social', an event focused on education and innovation. The event brought together key decision-makers, influencers and end-users from the education sector to discuss the evolving role of technology and the increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recently at the Grand Sheraton Hotel in Dubai, 'The Tech Social' aimed to raise awareness of the transformative role of AI in education, showcasing how technology is reshaping the learning experience and empowering the entire education ecosystem. By offering tailored solutions that address the real-world needs of institutions, educators, and students, ASUS supports the sector with innovation and reliability. Their offerings span from secure, enterprise-grade hardware to AI-powered software, ensuring future-ready tools for every level of learning. This includes their versatile lineup of All-in-One (AiO) devices and Chromebooks, designed for both performance and ease of use in educational event also featured an insightful panel discussion titled "AI in Education: Shaping the Future of Learning,' which brought together leading voices from the education and technology sectors to explore emerging trends in the integration of AI into modern discussion shed light on the adoption of AI in schools, where it is now moving away from the traditional classroom model to a more adaptive learning environment. AI can help personalize learning while keeping teachers at the center of the education process, equip students for real-world challenges and allow for more global collaboration between other schools and institutions. Privacy and transparency were also discussed, with an emphasis on using AI as a tool to enhance the human connection rather than replace the role of educators. Overall, the panel touched on important points regarding how educators, students and schools should prepare themselves for the evolving concept of learning."AI is shaping the future of learning in the education sector. As schools across the UAE begin integrating AI into their curricula, ASUS remains committed to empowering educators, students and educational institutions with the advanced tools and solutions required to meet the evolving demands of modern learning environments. We are pleased with the response we received to 'The Tech Social' event, which reflects the education sector's growing commitment to technological advancement," said Tolga Özdil, Regional SYS Commercial Director, Middle East, Turkey & Africa (META) at ASUS. Through its partnerships, ASUS is committed to supporting the education sector and providing end-users with direct access to its extensive range of innovative, reliable, and purpose-built technology solutions. Building on the success of 'The Tech Social,' ASUS plans to host similar events in the future to further engage and empower the education community.
