According to a recent industry report, demand for off-plan homes in Dubai hit all-time highs in May 2024, with the emirate witnessing a month-over-month increase in new contract registrations of 41.6%, or over 10,000 transactions and 69.4% of all residential sales.
The emirate recorded a 76.3% year-over-year increase in off-plan registrations for residential properties last month, according to findings of the “ValuStrat Price Index – Dubai Residential Capital Values,” with communities like Jumeirah Village Circle and Meydan One driving up demand.
The study also revealed that the highest number of off-plan homes traded in a single month occurred in May at Discovery Gardens and Dubai Hills Estate, both of which broke their own records.
With the majority of homes sold in Jumeirah Village Circle (8.3%), Business Bay (6.6%), Dubai Marina (5.9%), Downtown Dubai (5.3%), and Jumeirah Lake Towers (3.9%), the volume of ready home transactions has also increased by 8.1% since April and 45.9% since 2023.
The ready properties in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Bay Island, Emirates Hills, and District One totalled 16 transactions with prices exceeding 30 million UAE dirhams.
Capital Values
According to ValuStrat, despite the unprecedented deluge that caused flooding in several communities in Dubai due to April’s record rainfall, the strong demand for residential properties prevented any major impact on home valuations.
The month of May saw similar monthly growth rates in villa capital values, with properties in Palm Jumeirah experiencing an annual capital value increase of 41.7%.
The other notable annual gains were at Jumeirah Islands (41.1%), Emirates Hills (37.5%), Dubai Hills Estate (32.5%), and the Lakes (32.1%). Although the majority of Dubai’s well-established villa communities have surpassed their 2014 capital value peaks, Palm Jumeirah became the first apartment complex to do so this month, according to ValuStrat.
There was a record annual growth of 22.4% in apartment prices, with a monthly increase of 11.8%, or 0.2% higher than in April. Areas like Discovery Gardens (34%), the Greens (32.6%), Palm Jumeirah (30.9%), Al Quoz Fourth (29.1%), and the Views (28.1%) had some of the highest apartment capital gains over the prior year.
In addition, the VPI report revealed a direct contrast between the steadily increasing average price per square foot and the decreasing average home size in Dubai, which has led to concerns about property valuations.