Real estate prices in Dubai are growing much faster than ready-made houses - what should buyers do?

Looking for a property to buy in Dubai? If you think that buying a ready-made house will cost more, check out the data for the first six months of 2022. Because off-plan real estate sales are going through good times.

Average prices for one-bedroom apartments commissioned during this period increased by as much as 46% compared to last year and amounted to 1.2 million dirhams. 

One of the reasons for the almost 50% increase in prices for off-plan services may be that the recent wave of project launches took place in Downtown Dubai, Jumeirah, Al Wasl, Safa Park and Dubai Water Canal. In addition, developers are adding more amenities, such as private pools, rather than shared throughout the building, premium fitness centers, etc. to make their projects stand out from the rest.

For buyers, a sharp rise in starting prices will cause some concern, especially since mortgage rates are also rising. And in June 2022, there will be another rate increase, which will make the cost of buying an apartment outside the mortgage plan much more expensive than at any time since 2019-20.

The increase in rates has already led to a decrease in the volume of purchases secured by mortgages. In the first half of 2022, the volume of mortgage transactions «fell» by 37% in value terms to 43.4 billion dirhams and by 15% in volume to 11,280 houses.