Dubai Q1 real estate transactions exceed expectations despite a seemingly slow March: Property Finder

Dubai registered a total of 10,243 real estate transactions in March 2020, according to Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder Group. This represents a growth of 9.74 percent in the volume of registered property sales transactions compared to 9,317 transactions in Q1 2019.

It is also the highest number of sales transactions registered in Q1 in Dubai since 2017 where we saw 11,910 property sales transactions registered during that time.

So far this year, we have seen mortgage registrations consistently higher than 2019 on a weekly basis. March alone saw more than 1,209 mortgage registrations, which is the highest number of registrations since October 2019 and 24.8% more than March 2019.

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“In H2 2019, we started to see an upward shift in sales transactions with multiple record breaking months in regards to sales volumes. This trend continued into Q1 2020, with transaction volumes increasing month-on-month. During the current situation, we have obviously seen a slow down in transactions, however due to the governments proactive, swift, extreme efforts and policies I believe we will get through this tough period quicker than most and the real estate market will start to transact again and will continue the trend where it left off in Q1.” comments Lynnette Abad, Director of Data and Research, Property Finder.

March 2020 – Off-plan vs secondary transactions

The top 5 areas which witnessed the highest overall property sales transactions in March 2020 were Downtown Burj Khalifa (223 transactions), Business Bay (217), Dubai Marina (182), Mohammed Bin Rashid City (145) and Jumeirah Village Circle (132).

For off-plan sales, the top 5 performing areas in Dubai were Business Bay (149), Downtown Burj Khalifa (144), Mohammed Bin Rashid City (120), Jumeirah Village Circle (88) and Palm Jumeirah (70).

On the secondary market, areas that witnessed the most sales were Dubai Marina (147), International City (109), Downtown Burj Khalifa (79), Business Bay (68) and Jumeirah Beach Residence (66).

March 2020 – Villa/Townhouse vs Apartments

For villas/townhouse sales, the top 5 performing areas in Dubai were Dubai Hills Estate (53 units), Dubai South (37), Akoya Oxygen (35), Arabian Ranches 3 (34) and Mohammed Bin Rashid City (29).

In the apartment market, buildings that witnessed the most sales were Burj Crown in Downtown Burj Khalifa (90 units), Se7en Residences, Palm Jumeirah (68), The Terraces, Sobha Hartland (52), Seven City, Jumeirah Lakes Towers (44) and Zada Tower, Business Bay (40).