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Sales in the secondary property market in Dubai have hit the highest record in seven years. Just in one month buyers snapped up thousands of completed homes worth USD 1.5 billion in total, the latest data showed.
Overall, in November 2020, Dubai recorded 3,928 transactions standing at USD 2 billion, which was the highest in nine months, reported Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder Group.
Secondary apartments, villas and townhouses comprised the bulk of last month's sales, recording 2,179 transactions. According to Property Finder, this is the first time the secondary market has shown the strongest sales activity since April 2014. It is not clear yet whether this trend will continue in the market but the upcoming World Expo 2020 in Dubai is expected to stir up investments from foreign buyers.
Demand for property has been very subdued this year compared to the previous year because of the coronavirus pandemic that hit the real estate market hard. April and May were the worst months having the lowest transactions for both secondary and off-plan units, as buyers faced mobility restrictions due to the global lockdown.
'This year, no one ever expected for the market to rebound the way it has. November 2020 has broken records in the secondary market that stood for over six and a half years,' said Lynnette Abad, director of research and data at Property Finder. 'It will be interesting to see what happens in the first half of 2021 as these numbers are not sustainable. However, with Expo 2020 coming, we could potentially see a surge in the numbers as demand will be there from foreign investments.'
In April 2014, the total number of secondary residential real estate transactions was 2,265. Since that time sales of ready homes declined and never went higher than 1,850 transactions a month in more than six-seven years, Property Finder pointed out.
In November 2020, 1,402 secondary apartments were purchased, which is the highest since July 2019. The villa and townhouse segment had 600, 660 and 645 transactions in September, October and November, respectively.
Properties in Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Barsha Heights (Tecom), Downtown Dubai and Jumeirah Village Circle were most popular among apartment buyers in November. And the most sought-after locations for villas and townhouses were Green Community, Arabian Ranches, Town Square, Nad Al Sheba and Dubai Hills Estate.
