Dubai: The total volume of transactions in Dubai reached 8,662 in December 2022, a growth of 63.0% from the previous year. This has been supported by a 92.5% increase in off-plan sales and a 35.4% jump in secondary sales. Over the full year, a record total of 90,881 residential transactions has been registered in 2022, exceeding the historic record high of 81,182 from 2009.

Average property prices rose by 9.5% in the year to December 2022, with average apartment prices rising by 9.0% and average villa prices by 12.8% over the same period. As of December 2022, Dubai’s average apartment prices reached AED 1,168 per square foot, and average villa prices reached AED 1,385 per square foot. These average rates have not yet surpassed the record highs of 2014, with the average apartment and villa prices being 21.5% and 4.2% below this peak.

In the apartment segment of the market, Jumeirah has registered the highest sales rate per square foot at AED 2,324, whereas, in the villa segment of the market, Palm Jumeirah registered the highest sales rate per square foot at AED 3,921.

In the year to December 2022, average rents increased by 26.9%. Over this period, average apartment and villa rents increased by 27.1% and 24.9%, respectively. As at December 2022, average annual apartment rents stood at AED 95,168, and average villa rents stood at AED 282,150.

Palm Jumeirah has recorded the highest average annual apartment and villa rents, with asking rents reaching an average of AED 248,452 and AED 1,016,956 per annum, respectively.

Taimur Khan, Head of Research – MENA at CBRE in Dubai, comments:

“Dubai’s residential market saw a number of records being broken over the course of 2022. Residential transactions volumes reached 90,881 for the year, a new record, beating the 2009 high by almost 10,000 transactions. Residential rental growth also reached historic levels, with apartment and villa rents increasing by 27.1% and 24.9%, in 2022, respectively. Due to the lack of available villa stock for rent and growing demand levels for such stock, villa rents are now 45.3% higher than in 2019, with average villa rents standing at AED 282,150, once again the highest level on record. Over the same period, average apartment rents are 17.2% higher and stand at AED 95,168.

While these figures may be welcome news for landlords who had seen almost six years of softening rents until 2022, the rapid rate of growth will continue to impact demand, where in 2022 the total number of new Ejari registrations fell by 7.0%. Overall, the number of Ejari transactions totalled 540,758, an increase of 10.8% year-on-year.

In the year ahead, we expect that both the average rates of price and rental growth will remain positive, however, we expect the rates to moderate and in certain more nascent communities with strong supply pipelines, to decline.”