19 July 2016

Decline comes despite greater number of transactions.


The total value of real estate transactions in Dubai during the first half of the year reached 113 billion dirhams ($30.7 billion), falling 12.4 percent year-on-year despite a double-digit increase in the number of deals, according to official figures.

A Dubai Land Department's (DLD) Transactions Report released on Tuesday showed that the number of recorded transactions rose 22.8 percent to 28,251 deals in the first six months of 2016 from around 23,000 during the same period last year.

Despite the uptake in activity, the total monetary value of transactions decreased by 16 billion dirhams, according to Zawya calculations, comparing the latest figures to those released by the DLD in July 2015.

The latest report said the DLD recorded 20,016 property sales worth 48.715 billion dirhams in the first half of 2016, 6,391 mortgage transactions worth 48.366 billion dirhams, while 1,844 other transactions accounted for the remaining 16 billion dirhams.

In terms of the most popular areas with buyers, Business Bay was ranked number one for the second year running, with 1,643 transactions worth 2.349 billion dirhams, followed by Dubai Marina with 1,392 transactions worth 2.893 billion dirhams.

"Dubai has achieved a high percentage of growth, with the value and the number of real estate transactions, which provides reassurance about the positive development that the Dubai property market is witnessing, and proves the attractiveness of the emirate's real estate," Sultan Butti Bin Merjen, director general of DLD, was quoted as saying in a press statement on Tuesday.

Note: This story has been corrected. An earlier version mistakenly stated a currency conversion of $35.12 billion for 113 billion dirhams.

© Zawya 2016