The number of developers operating in the Dubai real estate market has increased to 1,659, an increase of 400 developers since the beginning of 2024, with a growth rate of nearly 32% compared to the same period in 2023 (1,259 developers), according to data from Dubai REST, the electronic application of the Department of Lands and Properties in the emirate.
The state of momentum and strong activity in the Dubai real estate market since 2021 until now has contributed to attracting more companies and individuals, with the aim of winning a share of the investment opportunities provided by the sector, year after year, as several global development and brokerage companies have announced the transfer of their regional offices, or the opening of representative offices in the emirate, and the attraction of many employees and competencies related to the real estate industry.
New real estate development companies seek to enter into a circle of strong competition with their counterparts operating for years in the Dubai market, as they work to own a few plots of land in distinctive investment locations, to design and develop various projects that keep pace with the growing demand in the local market in the emirate, whether targeting the wealthy or those with middle incomes.
Since the beginning of this year 2024 until the end of the first half, new project launches in Dubai have reached approximately 86 thousand units with a total sales value of AED 214 billion, and approximately 200 additional projects have been added in the planning stages monitored by the property monitoring team. New launches are expected to maintain their historically high levels throughout the remainder of 2024, with between 35 and 40 thousand units added to the market on the map, and we are likely to witness significant growth in terms of new development activity in particular. Dubai real estate has recorded a qualitative leap in investment returns on apartments and villas since the beginning of 2024, with a rate that touched the 10% barrier in most areas, supported by the strong rise in rents across different regions. Investors take into account the calculation of the investment return on capital, as Dubai real estate prices have risen 57% in 4 years since the beginning of 2021.
Dubai Silicon Oasis topped the list in terms of annual investment returns of 9.3%, followed by Dubai Production City in second place with about 8.9%, then Jumeirah Village Circle in third place with 8.7%, and International City in fourth place with 8.4%, while Dubai South came in fifth place with 8.2%.
The real estate market in Dubai is witnessing a remarkable boom in terms of the number and value of sales, since the beginning of 2024 until the last days of September, as it approached the barrier of 371.2 billion dirhams resulting from 129,160 transactions, the highest of which was in Business Bay at 20.4 billion dirhams, followed by Jumeirah Village Circle second at 14.7 billion dirhams, then Burj Khalifa third at about 13.7 billion dirhams.
The total transactions, during the same period, recorded 539 billion dirhams resulting from 164,600 transactions, exceeding the half-trillion barrier for the third year in a row. Mortgages amounted to 132 billion dirhams (29,320 procedures), while grants achieved 36 billion dirhams (6,120 transactions).
In detail, real estate sales in the emirate achieved about 828.5 billion dirhams ($225.8 billion), resulting from 291,438 deals, during the 3 years (2021-2023), which followed the “Corona” pandemic, according to data from the emirate’s Land and Property Department published by “Dubai Digital”.
Dubai Land data showed that real estate sector sales recorded a strong leap during the past three years, as the year 2023 achieved approximately 411.7 billion dirhams (133,124 deals), with a growth of 55% and 36% in terms of value and number, respectively, compared to 2022, which recorded 266.25 billion dirhams (97,392 deals), and an increase of 173.5% and 118.5% compared to 2021, in which sales amounted to 150.5 billion dirhams (60,922 deals).