Dubai's residential property sector robust with 243,000 units in pipeline

Trade Arabia

09-03-2025

Dubai's residential property sector has 243,000 units in the pipeline from now until the end of 2027 with apartments accounting for 80% of future inventory, according to leading real estate advisory and property consultant, Cavendish Maxwell.
The property market soared to new heights last year with a record-breaking 169,000 sales – an increase of 42% on 2023, it stated.
Prices saw sustained increases during the year, ending 0.9% up month-on-month in December, and 3.1% higher than the previous quarter, it added.
Year-on-year, prices rose 16.5%, with the cost per square foot reaching AED1,493 in December – an increase of more than 90% on the April 2009 low, stated Cavendish Maxwell in its 2024 Dubai Residential Market Performance report.
Dubai's residential property sector closed 2024 with 47 months of continuous price rises. However, as anticipated by Cavendish Maxwell, the rate of appreciation is starting to slow, with monthly growth now hovering around 1%, compared to previous month-on-month increases of up to 2.5%.
Mortgage activity also soared in 2024, hitting an all time high of 36,600 loans – up almost a third on 2023.
The booming off-plan sector continued to dominate the market, with sales four times up on pre-Covid levels.
Almost 145,000 new off-plan units came to the market during the year – an average of 400 per day, the report shows.
Emaar Properties, Binghatti Properties and DAMAC Properties led the new launch market in terms of both units released and sales value. In 2024, under construction projects represented 68% of the total residential market.
Ronan Arthur, MRICS, Partner and Head of Residential Valuation at Cavendish Maxwell, said: "These impressive figures are not just the result of the recovery from the pandemic. They reflect a strong, stable property market that has seen consistent growth since 2022, driven by continued international demand from India, China and other Middle Eastern countries in particular."
"While Dubai's residential market remains extremely robust, with further growth expected in 2025, there are now signs of an adjustment to more sustainable levels. As with previous market cycles, the emirate's regulators, developers and investors are taking the right steps to avoid runaway growth which, as we have seen before, could threaten market stability," he noted.
Apartments accounted for 81% of residential property purchases in 2024, an increase of 3% on the previous year. Townhouses took 13% of the share, a 1% drop, and villas 6%, a decrease of 2% on 2023, he added.
Cavendish Maxwell pointed out that Mohammed Bin Rashid City saw the highest number of units delivered in 2024, with 5,300 new homes, followed by Jumeirah Village Circle (4,800), Business Bay (2,800), Al Furjan (2,600) and Rukan, Dubailand (1,500).
The future supply table is topped by Jumeirah Village Circle, where almost 25,000 units are set to be delivered between now and 2027, followed by Business Bay (16,000), Azizi Venice (13,500), Damac Lagoons (11,100) and Arjan (9,000).
Jumeirah Village Circle also claimed the number one spot for apartment sales – for both title deed and off plan transactions, at 4,048 and 11,917 respectively.
In second place for title deed transactions was Business Bay (3,400), followed by Dubai Marina (2,963), Downtown Dubai (2,289) and International City (1,927). In the off-plan sector, Business Bay saw 6,779 transactions, followed by Dubai Hills (5,487), Mohammed Bin Rashed City (4,156) and Sobha Hartland II (3,957).
According to Cavendish Maxwell, the apartment prices rose in most areas across Dubai last year, with Barsha Heights commanding the biggest increase: 33% higher in Q4 2024 than in the same period in 2023.
Next was Dubai Silicon Oasis at 24%, followed by Jumeirah Lakes Towers at 21%. Prices dipped in Dubai Production City, with a 6% drop, Bluewaters Island (4%) and Mohammed Bin Rashid City (2%).