Property Finder, the real estate technology portal in the Middle East and North Africa, has revealed its Market Watch Brief for Q3 2024, which showcases the latest insights and analysis in the real estate market. The report showed that Dubai real estate exceeded previous records, as the volume of quarterly sales reached its highest levels to date, with a total of 50,439 sales, worth AED 142 billion. The market witnessed better performance in the third quarter of 2024 than the second quarter, as the number of sales jumped by 15%, and the total value increased by 14.5% compared to the previous quarter, an active movement supported by the continued momentum of off-plan sales, which constituted 63% of total transactions, compared to 55% in the third quarter of 2023.
In contrast, the Abu Dhabi residential real estate market recorded 1,813 sales, worth AED 4.92 billion, equivalent to 63% of the total volume of sales (residential, commercial, and others), and 56% of the value of sales.
Sherif Soliman, Chief Revenue Officer, Property Finder, said: “The third quarter of 2024 has achieved significant milestones for the Dubai real estate market, reflecting a significant increase in activity and a noticeable shift in individuals’ behaviour towards home ownership. This trend confirms the increasing appeal of off-plan properties, which are increasingly popular with buyers. We have seen a remarkable activity in purchase transactions, reflected in the increase in the number of mortgage applications processed through Property Finder’s specialised consultancy service, Mortgage Finder.”
Dubai’s off-plan real estate market sales showed a significant increase in demand, with volumes growing by 58.7% year-on-year, reaching 31,800 sales. These figures for the number of quarterly sales are the highest of their kind to date, as they were accompanied by an increase in the total annual value by about 42.3%, recording AED 67.45 billion, compared to AED 47.39 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
The market exceeded the peak recorded in 2009, after the number of sales reached 31,800 transactions compared to 26,629 transactions in 2009, an increase of 19.4%. The report also revealed an annual increase in the number of sales in the ready real estate market of about 13.3%, recording approximately 18,639 sales, compared to 16,450 sales in the same quarter of last year.
This number constituted 37% of the total sales in the third quarter of 2024, with a significant growth rate in volume of 7.9% compared to the second quarter of the same year.
The total number of sales in the ready real estate market in Abu Dhabi in the third quarter of this year amounted to 1,067 sales, equivalent to 59% of the total sales, compared to 747 sales in the same period last year, representing 24% of the total sales. These figures reflected a remarkable growth of 42.8% year-on-year, representing the highest level in the volume and value of sales recorded in the past eight quarters.
The total value of sales in the ready real estate market in the third quarter of 2024 recorded about AED 2.37 billion, equivalent to 48% of the total value of real estate sales, compared to about 15% in the third quarter of 2023. The growth rate also reached 44.8%, compared to AED 1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2023, despite the decline in total sales on an annual basis.
The Abu Dhabi real estate market recorded about 746 sales on the map, representing 41% of the total sales in the third quarter of 2024. The total value of these sales reached 2.56 billion dirhams, equivalent to 52% of the total sales in the third quarter.