Dubai property deals hit new 11-year high in November

More than 5,000 property transactions recorded with the Dubai Land Department in November, a 11-year high on a monthly basis

Dubai property sales transactions have scaled record highs since the government announced forming a committee to ensure that semi-government real estate companies do not compete with private investors, new research showed on Tuesday.

The committee, which will be chaired by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, aims to develop a comprehensive strategic plan and vision for all major real estate projects in the emirate for the next 10 years.

According to Data Finder, the real estate insights and data platform under the Property Finder Group, 5,051 property sales were recorded with the Dubai Land Department (DLD) in November, hitting a 11-year high on a monthly basis.

This eclipsed the 4,774 overall property sales registered in October and the 4,007 real estate transactions recorded in September. Cumulatively, this amounted to 13,832 transactions in the three-month timeframe.

It added that the DLD also registered the sale of Burma Island, part of the World Islands, for AED112.77 million on December 8.

According to the data, it appears that the announcement of the committee has had a positive impact on market sentiment in the three months since September.

This comes on the back of several stimuli such as extended visas, streamlined processes and fee relaxations announced by the government to boost investment in the property market this year.
Positive regulations such as the Central Bank removing the 3 percent early settlement fee for mortgages, relaxing the maximum age requirement to repay mortgages and lifting the 20 percent cap on real estate lending for banks have also inspired confidence in the property market, the research said.

“It is a combination of all of the above as to why sales transactions have increased this year and consumer confidence is building up in the market. This, coupled with declining prices and an excess amount of supply, has given the buyer much choice, attractive prices and incentives,” said Lynnette Abad, director of Data and Research, Property Finder.

Business Bay has emerged as the top pick for buyers, with an overall 1,160 property transactions recorded in the three months of September, October and November.

Other communities which registered the highest number of overall property transactions in this timeframe were Dubai Creek Harbour (1,057), Dubai South (838), Jumeirah, with projects such as La Mer (647), and Downtown Burj Khalifa (560).

Off-plan properties continued to dominate transactions with Dubai Creek Harbour seeing the most transactions (1,030) in the three-month timeframe, followed by Business Bay (863), Dubai South (696), Jumeirah (586) and Villanova (508).

November also recorded brisk activity for off-plan sales, clocking in 3,053 such transactions, the second highest since September 2015, which registered 3,258 such deals, added Data Finder.

In the secondary market, International City topped in terms of the number of transactions (443), followed by Dubai Marina (359), Business Bay (297), Jumeirah Village Circle (282) and Bluewaters Island (262).