Record sales of ready villas and apartments registered in Dubai in February

February 2021 turned out to be the busiest month for the emirate's secondary market in seven years.

Dubai’s secondary housing market witnessed the busiest month in seven years: eager buyers snapped up over USD 1.6 billion worth of completed residential properties in less than 30 days.

According to the Property Finder data, 2,650 ready units were sold in total in Dubai in February, which is the highest in a single month since March 2014 and also exceeds January 2021 results. Secondary sales account for 68 percent of the total 3,814 transactions worth USD 2 billion registered during the month.

In the second half of 2020 buyer activity in Dubai started to pick up gradually after the COVID-19 restrictions had been eased. An opportunity to own a piece of property for a much lower price attracted investors.

Sales prices and rents have been declining due to the pandemic situation combined with the huge supply glut in the market. Overall, the market remains subdued compared to pre-COVID-19 levels.

'During the pandemic, it was very clear in the search and demand data, which we analyse daily, that consumers wanted to move into a property now and not wait for construction to be completed on an off-plan property,” said Lynnette Abad, director of research and data. 'This trend was very apparent with end-users who were looking to either purchase their first home in Dubai or upgrade to a larger property with more internal and external space.'

Despite low demand for off-plan properties, some developers are planning to start construction work of additional residential homes.

'Since restrictions have eased and as we moved into a new year, we started to see developers launch new phases to existing projects which are under construction,' said Abad. 'These new launches, especially in the villa/ townhouse segment, proved to be very popular with investors over the last few months.'

Last month, 10.3 percent of the villa sales took place in Nad Al Sheba, followed by Dubai Hills Estate (8.3 percent), Green Community (8 percent), Arabian Ranches (4.7 percent) and Dubailand (4 percent).

Business Bay turned out to be the most popular location among apartment buyers accounting for 14.9 percent of all sales transactions, followed by Dubai Marina (9 percent), Jumeirah Village Circle (8 percent), Downtown Dubai (6.5 percent) and Palm Jumeirah (6.2 percent).

41,500 new residential units are expected to be delivered in Dubai this year, and additional 15,000 are expected in Abu Dhabi. Rents are also forecast to fall further due to supply-demand imbalances.