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Dubai’s secondary housing market just had the busiest month in seven years, with eager buyers snapping up more than 5.8 billion dirhams ($1.6 billion) worth of completed residential properties in under 30 days.
According to the data compiled by Property Finder, a total of 2,650 ready units were sold in Dubai last February, the highest in a single month since March 2014. Secondary sales represent 68 percent of the total 3,814 transactions, worth 7.43 billion dirhams, recorded for the month.
“February 2021 now holds the record for most secondary/ready properties in a single month over the past seven years, surpassing January’s numbers,” Property Finder said.
Buyer activity in the emirate started to pick up after the COVID-19 restrictions eased during the second half of 2020. Investors have been lured by the prospect of owning a piece of property for a much lower price.
Sales prices and rents have been on a decline, owing to a combination of the pandemic and the huge supply glut in the market. Overall, the market remains subdued compared to pre-COVID-19 levels.
“During the pandemic, it was very clear in the search and demand data, which we analyse daily, that consumers wanted to move into a property now and not wait for construction to be completed on an off-plan property,” said Lynnette Abad, director of research and data.
“This trend was very apparent with end-users who were looking to either purchase their first home in Dubai or upgrade to a larger property with more internal and external space.”
New launches
While demand for off-plan properties remains low, some developers are planning to start construction work of additional residential homes.
“Since restrictions have eased and as we moved into a new year, we started to see developers launch new phases to existing projects which are under construction,” said Abad.
“These new launches, especially in the villa/ townhouse segment, proved to be very popular with investors over the last few months.”
February sales
Last month, 10.3 percent of the villa sales took place in Naad Al Sheba, followed by Dubai Hills Estate (8.3 percent), Green Community (8 percent), Arabian Ranches (4.7 percent) and Dubailand (4 percent).
Among apartment buyers, the most popular location is Business Bay, which accounted for 14.9 percent of all sales transactions, followed by Dubai Marina (9 percent), Jumeirah Village Circle (8 percent), Downtown Dubai (6.5 percent) and Palm Jumeirah (6.2 percent).
Dubai is expected to see the delivery of an additional 41,500 new residential units this year, with 15,000 more expected in Abu Dhabi. Rents are also forecast to fall further on the back of supply-demand imbalances.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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© ZAWYA 2021
