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In 2024, three new master-planned communities, large residential areas, will emerge in Dubai, adding numerous much-needed villas and townhouses to the market, creating new infrastructure for the city, and opening up new investment opportunities. Two communities have already been announced for this year. They are The Heights Country Club and Grand Club Resort by Emaar. The third community is expected to be launched in May and will be developed by DAMAC. All these projects are located in the southwest areas of Dubai, along the E611 highway.
Content:
- Current housing supply situation
- Housing prices and sales in February 2024
- Market between villas and apartments
Current housing supply situation
Data on the launch of new housing projects in February 2024 show that approximately 10,000 units of residential real estate were introduced to the market during the month. Primarily, these were apartments. The number of private houses, villas, and townhouses accounted for approximately 15% of the total number of properties introduced to the market during the specified month. Private houses remain a scarce segment of the market, leading to significant changes. Evidence of this can be seen in the 55% year-on-year decrease in villa sales in the emirate in February.
Housing prices and sales in February 2024
The second month of the year saw a moderate increase in housing prices in Dubai by 0.8% year-on-year. This follows a 0.2% increase in January of the current year. Despite this relative growth, the overall market remains within the predicted slowdown. By the end of the year, market price growth is expected to reach 5–8%. Currently, the average price per square metre of real estate in Dubai is approximately $3,790, just 5% below historical highs.
The volume of transactions in the emirate, primarily driven by the apartment market, continues to increase monthly. Property sales, overall, increased by 2.6% in February, with over 11,900 real estate transactions concluded. This marks the highest number of transactions for February in recorded history, surpassing the previous record set in February 2023.
Market between villas and apartments
Overall, the housing market accounts for 92.1% of all transactions in the emirate today. Out of the 11,900 transactions, over 10,950 were related to housing. The remaining percentage is attributed to sales in the commercial segment, primarily hotels (2.8%), offices (2.2%), and land plots (1.7%). The main driver of investment growth entering the country remains the market for under-construction housing. Finished housing remains highly popular in the rental market.
At the same time, sales activity in villas and townhouses either remains stable or declines depending on the area of Dubai. We observe significant fluctuations in the data from month to month. As mentioned earlier, villa sales fell by 55% year-on-year in February. However, in January, there was a year-on-year increase of over 20%. The reconfiguration of the local real estate market towards apartments, as the dominant segment, is becoming increasingly apparent.
