A record number of real estate sales transactions over 16 months was reported in March 2021, with 4,643 transactions worth AED 10.93 billion, as well as a growth of 23 percent in terms of transaction numbers and 47 percent in terms of value, compared to February, according to the 13th edition of Mo’asher, Dubai’s official sales price index, launched by Dubai Land Department (DLD), in cooperation with Property Finder.

The base year for Mo’asher is 2012 and the base month for the monthly index is January 2012, with the base quarter for the quarterly index being Q1 2012.

Q1 2021 had 11,753 sales transactions worth AED 25.15 billion. In total, Q1 2021 had 6 percent more real estate sales transactions than Q4 2020, 16 percent more for secondary properties and 7 percent less for off-plan properties. When compared to Q1 2020, Q1 2021 had 15 percent more total sales transactions, 70 percent more sales of secondary properties and 29 percent less for off-plan properties.

In March, 63 percent of sales transactions were for secondary/ready properties, the highest since June 2015, and 37 percent were for off-plan properties. Apartment sales accounted for 71 percent of the total transactions and 29 percent were for villa/townhouse sales.

Of note, the volume of sales transactions saw the off-plan market transacted 1,713 properties, worth a total of AED 2.91 billion, and the secondary market transacted 2,930 properties worth AED 8.02 billion. Comparing this to February 2021, the number of off-plan transactions in March increased by 37 percent, while secondary/ready property transactions increased 16 percent.

For the month of March, the average sales transaction value for off-plan properties increased month-on-month by 24.6 percent, and for secondary properties it increased 21.5 percent. The total value of off-plan properties, when comparing March 2021 to February 2021, increased by 70 percent, while secondary properties increased 41 percent.

According to proprietary Property Finder demand data, in the villas/townhouses sector, 11.5 percent of all sales in March 2021 took place in Mohammed bin Rashid City, followed by Tilal Al Ghaf (10.1 percent), Dubai Hills Estate (9.9 percent), Nad Al Sheba (8.2 percent) and Rukan (5.8 percent). Looking at apartments, 10.7 percent of all sales transactions took place in Business Bay, followed by Dubai Marina (9.3 percent), Jumeirah Village Circle (8 percent), Jumeirah Lakes Towers (7.6 percent) and Palm Jumeirah (7.2 percent).

The top areas of interest, in terms of searches for villas/townhouses in March 2021, were Dubai Hills Estate, Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah, Mohamed bin Rashid City and Damac Hills.

As for apartments for the same period, the top areas of interest were Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay and Jumeirah Village Circle.

Overall, the monthly index recorded 1.085 and an index price of AED 1,016,541. Apartments monthly index recorded 1.129 and an index price of AED 944,982. The villas/townhouses monthly index recorded 0.982 and an index price of AED 1,745,336.

For Q1 2021, the index recorded 1.095 and an index price of AED 1,009,901. Apartments monthly index recorded 1.133 and an index price of AED 945,081. The villas/townhouses monthly index recorded 0.922 and an index price of AED 1,789,909.