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More investors piled into the Dubai property market in recent weeks, with sales of completed homes last August surpassing those of last year’s, the latest figures showed.
Transactions involving completed villas and apartments last month were up nearly half (46.2 percent) when compared to the sales recorded in the same period last year, a new report released by ValuStrat said.
Sold ready homes also represent a huge chunk, about two-thirds, of the residential properties acquired in the same period, while off-plan units represent only a third of the purchases.
Some of Dubai’s developers had earlier reported an increase in sales activity within the residential segment following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions. The master developer of the Palm Jumeirah, Nakheel, said it sold dozens of homes in just a few months after the lockdown.
The most favoured asset among homebuyers at the moment are properties that are ready to move in, particularly villas, as exclusive outdoor space in the age of quarantine and social distancing becomes a hot commodity.
“It is very clear, through the data, that personal, outside space became a commodity during the crisis and I strongly believe this trend will continue post-crisis,” Lynnette Abad, director of research and data at Property Finder, told Zawya earlier.
Latest official data
As of July 2020, buyers acquired residential properties worth a total of 4.69 billion UAE dirhams, with ready homes representing 70.4 percent of the sales, according to the data from the Dubai Land Department.
The villa or townhouse segment alone recorded 493 sales transactions in July, the highest number recorded in a single month.
“One of the reasons we are seeing this trend is due to the high demand for larger properties with more outside space,” the land department said.
“During the lockdown, search and demand data showed that people started looking for bigger properties. The search and demand data shifted from the traditional small family apartments to villa/townhouses. We can see in search and demand data this trend has grown significantly since the lockdown started and continues to have an effect on the market,” it added.
Off-plan sales
However, while ready homes are now the most preferred asset, developers aren’t seeing an improvement in the off-plan segment.
Sales of homes still under construction dropped by 25.2 percent in August when compared to July on the back of reduced project launches, according to ValuStrat.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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© ZAWYA 2020
