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Dubai has topped the global sales charts for selling the highest number of super-prime multimillion-dollar homes, according to the consultancy Knight Frank.
The emirate, which has been attracting a growing number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) since the COVID-19 pandemic, sold 95 residential properties with a price tag of more than $10 million.
The number of Dubai homes snapped up by property buyers was the highest during the second quarter, outpacing those in 11 other top markets, including New York, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Geneva, Miami, Orange County, Palm Beach, Singapore and Sydney.
Dubai also led the table with a total value of $1.5 billion, although London and New York also saw sales above $1 billion during the quarter.
In the 12 months to June 2023, a total of 320 $10 million-plus homes were sold in Dubai, also the highest among the cities tracked by Knight Frank.
“Dubai continues to lead the pack, but London and New York are still seeing healthy volumes,” Knight Frank said in its report.
Sales across top markets
Overall, the 12 cities sold 422 homes with a combined value of $7.3 billion in the second quarter, bringing the total sales in the 12 months up to June to 1,638 residential units worth just under $30 billion, down from the peak of $40.7 billion seen in 2021. The total volume is still well ahead of the pre-pandemic figure of $18.6 billion in 2019.
Despite the decline in other markets, Dubai continued to see growing demand, recording a 79% increase in volumes between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023. Other markets like Sydney, Paris and Geneva saw volumes rise by 46%, 17% and 7%, respectively.
The biggest slowdown was witnessed by markets in the US, led by Los Angeles, where volumes plummeted by 63%. The decline was primarily due to the impact of higher interest rates.
“The biggest constraint across a majority of markets in the near term is supply – a lack of new development starts between 2020 and 2022 means a lean 2024 for new delivery pointing to rising competition for available stock which should act to put a floor under pricing,” the report said.
“Despite the slowdown, the market is still firing well above its pre-pandemic level.”
In its Destination Dubai report early this year, Knight Frank said global HNWIs are expected to spend $2.5 billion on properties in Dubai this year.
About 22% of the 183 HNWIs polled by the consultancy would set aside $5 million to $10 million to invest in Dubai’s real estate, while 8% indicated spending more than $80 million.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Brinda Darasha)
