Dubai home sales surge even as prices for larger houses moderate

DUBAI home sales jumped 42 per cent in June, consulting firm ValuStrat said, though price growth slowed for larger single-family houses.

Prices for villas grew at a monthly rate of 1.7 per cent in June, down from an average of 2.3 per cent per month last year. Still, on an annual basis, prices are 32.2 per cent higher, the consulting firm said in a report on Thursday (Jul 7).

Villas comprise less than 20 per cent of the city's housing supply and proved popular after the pandemic as people sought out more space. Meanwhile, prices for apartments, which make up the vast majority of housing supply in Dubai, grew at less than 1 per cent in June, according to ValuStrat.

Dubai's property market is recovering from a 7-year slump, helped by factors including an increase in Russian buyers looking to safeguard their wealth. The city's nimble handling of the pandemic also helped shore up the market, a key sector for the Middle East's business hub.

The recovery is supported by improving economic performance fuelled by high oil prices, Fitch Ratings said in a report Thursday. "The sector is further benefiting from an influx of skilled workers and wealthy individuals from Russia to the UAE due to its neutral stance over the invasion and the relative ease of obtaining UAE visas for Russian nationals."

The total volume of all home sales rose 41.6 per cent compared to May, and was 38 per cent higher than the same period last year, according to ValuStrat. As many as 29 deals were valued at over 30 million (S$11.4 million) in June alone, and one villa on the man-made island of Palm Jumeirah sold for more than 126 million dirhams, it said.

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Palm Jumeirah, popular with wealthy Russians, also registered double-digit annual growth in apartment prices. Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, continued to see stellar growth in prices, ValuStrat said.

Properties developed by Emaar Properties, the Dubai-based developer of the Burj Khalifa, and Damac Properties topped sales charts in the emirate, according to the report. BLOOMBERG