Property Finder, the leading property portal in the MENA region, has revealed its market performance highlights for January 2024, showing a positive start for Dubai’s fast evolving real estate sector.
According to Property Finder’s proprietary data, the market witnessed a YoY increase of 17% in recorded sales transactions, over 11,000 compared to 8,712 in January 2023. Building on momentum from 2023, January also showed a significant surge in the value of transactions reaching almost AED 35 billion, marking an increase of 27% compared to the same month last year.
Key data highlights:
Apartments vs Villas/Townhouses: 58% of interested property buyers were searching for an apartment, while 42% seeked villas/townhouses. In contrast, 80% of tenants in the rental market were found to be looking for apartments, while 20% were searching for villas/townhouses.
Furnished vs Unfurnished: Roughly 62.2% of tenants seeking apartments were found to choose furnished properties, while 36.1% were searching for unfurnished options. In contrast, tenants who are able to afford villa/townhouse rentals revealed the opposite, with about 57% seeking unfurnished units and 42% looking for furnished options.
Sizeable units in demand: Approximately 36% tenants searched for one bedroom units, 31% for two-bedroom apartments and 22% for studios. For villas/townhouses, 43% tenants were looking for three-bedroom units, 34% seeked four bedroom or larger options. As for ownership, 33% were seeking one-bedroom units, 36% searched for two-bedroom apartments and 14% for studios. Regarding Villas/Townhouses, 40% were primarily looking for three-bedroom units, while 44% were searching for four-bedroom or larger options.
Ownership vs rental choices: Top areas searched to own apartments were Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Jumeirah Village Circle, Business Bay, and Palm Jumeirah. Dubai Hills Estate, Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah, Al Furjan and Damac Hills were the most desired areas to own villas/townhouses. Leading areas for rentals were Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Village Circle, Downtown Dubai, Business Bay and Deira. Dubai Hills Estate, Al Barsha, Damac Hills 2, Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim were popular when it came to searches to rent villas/townhouses.
Support from existing market: Existing property transactions revealed a YoY increase of approximately 8% in volume, with over 5,000 transactions. The value of these transactions surged by 31% YoY, touching AED 21 billion, compared to AED 15.7 billion in January 2023.
Growing demand for off-plan: Off-plan showed more demand, with a YoY increase of approximately 25% in volume and 6,000 recorded transactions. Values experienced a surge of around 21% YoY, reaching roughly AED 15 billion, compared to AED 12.2 billion in January 2023.
Cherif Sleiman, Chief Revenue Officer at Property Finder, said:“We are delighted to see January build on the great momentum from last year, revealing positive scope for sustained successes in 2024. It’s interesting to see off-plan gain further traction, promising demand for new projects. As a leading proptech portal, we continue to keep our eyes on evolving consumer choices, with an aim to empower our partners and property seekers to make more informed decisions within this thriving real estate landscape. ”
All the latest information for January’s top listings and communities are available on Data Guru by Property Finder that can be accessed at https://www.propertyfinder.ae/ or on the Property Finder app, available for download on Google Play and Apple Store.
