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The secondary property market in Dubai has hit the highest record in seven years, with thousands of completed homes worth 5.7 billion dirhams ($1.5 billion) snapped up in just one month, the latest data showed.
In November 2020, a total of 3,928 transactions worth 7.65 billion ($2 billion) were recorded in the emirate, the highest in nine months, reported Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder Group.
The bulk of last month’s sales involved secondary apartments, villas and townhouses, which recorded 2,179 transactions. According to Property Finder, this is the first time the secondary market has shown the strongest sales activity since after April 2014.
It remains to be seen whether the market can keep the sales momentum going, but the upcoming World Expo event in Dubai should stir up investments from foreign buyers.
Demand for property had been mostly down this year compared to the previous year, as the market reeled from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. April and May were the worst months for the market, recording the lowest transactions for both secondary and off-plan units, as buyers faced mobility restrictions due to the global lockdown.
“This year, no one ever expected for the market to rebound the way it has. November 2020 has broken records in the secondary market that stood for over six and a half years,” said Lynnette Abad, director of research and data at Property Finder.
“It will be interesting to see what happens in [the first half of 2021] as these numbers are not sustainable. However, with Expo 2020 coming, we could potentially see a surge in the numbers as demand will be there from foreign investments,” she said.
Seven-year high
Last April 2014, a total of 2,265 secondary residential real estate transactions were recorded. Since then, sales of completed property units declined and never went to more than 1,850 transactions a month in more than six years, Property Finder noted.
In November, buyers purchased 1,402 secondary apartments, the highest since July 2019.
The villa and townhouse market had the most productive period over the past three months, with 600, 660 and 645 transactions recorded in September, October and November, respectively.
Last November, apartment buyers were mostly drawn to properties in Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Barsha Heights (Tecom), Downtown Dubai and Jumeirah Village Circle.
For villas and townhouses, the most popular locations were Green Community, Arabian Ranches, Town Square, Nad Al Sheba and Dubai Hills Estate.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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