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Demand for premium properties in Dubai has surged recently, with dozens of luxury homes sold in just a few months in some of the prime locations in the emirate, according to the latest analysis by Property Monitor.
So far this year, 81 villa properties on The Palm Jumeirah alone, each costing upwards of 10 million dirhams ($2.7 million), were snapped up by homebuyers, surpassing the whole of last year’s premium villa sales on the island, Property Monitor said in its report on Wednesday.
In 2020, only 54 villas were sold on the man-made island.
Last April, a property on the island worth 111.25 million dirhams was sold, making it Dubai’s second-highest residential sales transaction ever. In another record-busting deal during the same month, a buyer acquired Villa 02 at XXII Carat (Club Villas) on the West Crescent of Palm Jumeirah for 105 million dirhams, the third-most expensive residential property sale in Dubai.
At Emirates Hills, Villa R-66 was sold for 72.4 million dirhams, the fourth most expensive sale in the area and the highest since September 2018.
Overall, the month of April recorded 90 transactions involving properties worth more than 10 million dirhams, up by 6.7 percent compared to March, according to Property Monitor.
Price increases
Owing to a strong demand, property prices in Dubai steadily recovered and climbed by 9.5 percent in the last six months, Property Monitor said.
In April, prices jumped by 2.5 percent to average around 895 dirhams (243.67) per square foot. The rate of increase was the largest recorded in a single month since March 2014.
“Even after considering the declines seen during the early months of 2020, prices are now higher than a year ago and the strong recovery shows little sign of abating,” the report said.
However, not all properties have registered price increases, as some areas are still displaying price weakness. With the uneven performance, Property Monitor said, the strong price increases recorded in certain locations could slow in momentum “as the recovery switches to a more sustainable pace across Dubai as a whole”.
Prices fell during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year amid strict COVID-19 protocols that restricted the mobility of potential buyers. Shortly after Dubai eased its precautionary measures, buyers started coming.
Price index
The movement of prices in 42 key communities in Dubai are being tracked by the Property Monitor Dynamic Price Index (DPI).
For April 2021, the index value climbed 3.06 points to 125.01 from 121.94 in March 2021, registering a monthly increase of 2.51 percent.
While prices have increased on a monthly basis, current rates are still 27.4 percent lower than their peak in September 2014.
However, the last time property prices were at this level, in November to December 2012, numbers continued to increase for a further two years.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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