Dubai Land Department (DLD), in cooperation with Property Finder, has launched the seventh edition of Mo’asher, Dubai’s official sales price index. 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.

In October 2020, DLD recorded a total of 3,395 sales transactions worth AED 6.93 billion with 37.2% in the off-plan segment and 62.8% in the secondary segment. This brings the year-to-date total to 27,815 sales transactions worth AED 57.43 billion.

Latifa Ibrahim Ahmed, Director of the Real Estate Studies & Research Department at DLD, said: “We are proud to issue this index every month and provide it to researchers and those interested in the real estate market such as developers and investors. It is designed to give a comprehensive and transparent view of the market movement in general. Among the most important data that can be obtained this month is the emergence of strong signs of recovery in the market and its return to normal paths across the various segments of real estate units, especially through the demand for luxury units, and the registration of sustainable growth month after month. Overall, this means that the market will enter the new year strongly, especially if we take into account the growing momentum of preparations for Expo Dubai.”

Overview

October 2020 was a strong month for Dubai residential real estate. In October, Dubai saw 3,395 property sales transactions worth AED 6.93 billion, bringing the overall total for sales transaction to 27,815 with a total value of AED 57.43 billion.

Based on Property Finder’s data, 665 secondary or ready to move in villas/townhouses were transferred in October, which is 7.2% higher than the second highest month, September 2020 with 605 transactions. This figure is 34% higher than the third highest month ever, July 2020 with 496 transactions. The past four months had the highest number of transactions for villas/townhouses consistently, with each month being at an all-time high and the record broken the very next month. This consistent growth started after May 2020, which had 110 transactions and has since grown by over 500%.

Lynnette Abad, Director of Research & Data for Property Finder, said, “Prices for villas/townhouses became more affordable over the years making it an extremely attractive option for real estate investors. Since the pandemic started, many started to spend more time in their homes. This prompted a new trend and people started to want more space and outside spaces for their family. People also started to migrate away from densely populated city centres and towards the suburbs. All of this has led to an all-time high transaction volumes in Dubai for villas/townhouses over the past few months.”

Dubai’s overall index has remained stable at 1.092. The Dubai apartment and villa/townhouse index remained steady as well due to more affordable units coming into the ready market.

The most popular areas for secondary (ready) villas/townhouses in October 2020 were Nad Al Sheba(11.8%), Town Square(7.8%), International City(6.7%), Arabian Ranches (6.4%) and Dubai Hills Estate (5.9%). 39% of the transactions were for 4-bedroom units, 34.7% for 3-bedroom units and 14.8% for 5-bedroom units.

Looking at proprietary data from Property Finder, the search trends shows that the top five locations for consumers searching for villas/townhouses were Dubai Hills Estates, Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah, Damac Hills, and Mohammed bin Rashid City. Keywords such as ‘upgraded’, ‘pool’ and ‘furnished’ were the top three keywords in October 2020.

Overall for this month, 1013 villas/townhouses were transferred in both the off plan and secondary market. A total of 2,031 apartments were transferred with 1,128 in the secondary market and 903 in the off plan market.

Another highlight for October was the sale of 11 luxury apartments over three projects on Palm Jumeirah and Downtown worth over AED 15 million each for a total of AED 220.7million. The most expensive apartment was sold for AED 30 million in One at Palm Jumeirah. All these units were north of 5,000 sqft and the largest touching 15,000 sqft in The W residences worth AED 22.73 million.

To download Mo’asher, please visit the following links:

https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/studies/research/sales-house-price-index-october-2020/#/

https://www.datafinder.ae/moasheroctober