Dubai real estate: impressive figures for 2023
The year 2023 was a record-breaker. Dubai once again attracted investors from all over the world, against a backdrop where the global real estate market is experiencing one of its sharpest declines in activity in history. Dubai Immo takes a look back at the key figures for the Dubai 2023 real estate market and provides you with its analysis.
Very strong growth in the transaction market
The number of sales recorded by the Dubai Land Department rose sharply in 2023. Compared with 2022, which was already a record year, the number of sales rose by 37.2% to 133,200 transactions. This figure includes sales of apartments, villas, land and commercial premises, both off-plan and ready-to-use. Discover the figures for each type of property below:
- Apartments: 99,300 sales, +47.13%.
- Villas: 15,500 sales, up 30.98%.
- Commercial premises: 3,900 sales, up 29.68%.
- Land: 14,400 sales, -1.84%.
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Strong growth in sales value
With prices rising as a result of strong demand, the volume of sales logically rose sharply. Taking all types of property together, total sales amounted to 410.9 billion dirhams, or around 102.7 billion euros. This represents a 54.87% increase on 2022, which was already a record year. Find below the total value of sales for each type of property:
- Apartments: 49.32 billion euros, +51.24%.
- Villas: 14.72 billion euros, or +66%.
- Retail premises: 1.72 billion euros, up 45%.
- Land: 36.95 billion euros, up 56%.
New-build vs. old-build: what are the differences?
With 68,900 transactions, the off-plan sales market accounted for % of total sales. The number of transactions rose by 58%, while the total value of transactions increased by 70% compared to 2022, reaching 40 billion euros. For its part, the older property market saw a 20.24% increase in the number of sales. The total value of properties sold reached 62.57 billion euros, an increase of 46.5%.
Although off-plan sales accounted for "only" 39.1% of total sales in 2023, they grew much faster than sales in existing homes. This can be explained by a shortage of supply on the existing housing market, which has seen a sharp rise in prices.
Apartments VS villas: who's grown the most in 2023?
The number of apartments sold rose by 47.13% in 2023, compared with 30.98% for villas. This is due to a severe lack of supply of villas, which are sold almost exclusively by Dubai's leading developers. Indeed, villa sales, particularly off-plan, are generally part of the development of large, secure communities, which require a great deal of time and space to build. This makes it difficult to launch new communities many times over, whereas it's much simpler to create a new residence.
Which promoters made their mark in 2023?
In our opinion, a number of developers have made their mark on 2023, each in their own market segment. Among the leading developers, it's hard not to mention Damac, which has multiplied its launches, with ever more ambitious programs. With the launch of the Palm Jebel Ali and the inauguration of the Royal Atlantis with Beyoncé, Nakheel was also in the news. Then there was the excellent work of developers such as Sobha and Ellington, who delivered high-quality projects in 2023. Other developers, such as Imtiaz and Prescott, also confirmed the high regard in which they were held and considerably increased their investor base. London Gate has also arrived with great ambition, announcing several billion dollars of investment.
What's the real estate trend in Dubai 2024?
2024 will undoubtedly be a pivotal year for real estate in Dubai. Industry professionals expect the figures for 2023 to be confirmed, as the trend was still very positive in December. With the number of people living in Dubai increasing, and therefore the number of people eligible for credit, we expect the market to hold up in 2024, particularly in the secondary market. For their part, the major financial institutions have published very optimistic analyses of property prices in Dubai, which are still very affordable at less than €4,000 per m2 on average.
