The Dubai Land Department’s total transactions collectively amounted to a whopping Dh132 billion for H1 2017. Around 25% of these transactions were garnered courtesy residential transactions with Dh21.4 billion being the investment in the Dubai off-plan market (year-to-date) while the secondary market garnered Dh11.3 billion in investments.
The total off-plan sales volumes till now have already exceeded the whole off-plan sales figures for the whole of 2016. The off-plan market has witnessed positive demand from buyers and the picture certainly looks rosy going into the third and fourth quarters. The total off-plan sales volumes may touch 25, 000 units by the end of the year as per experts. 2, 432 units (approximately) were transferred in July, 2017 in the off-plan category. The top localities in terms of transactions include Downtown Burj Khalifa, Business Bay, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai South and Mohammad bin Rashid City.
August has always witnessed a lower number of transactions in Dubai real estate but the forecast is highly positive this time with 1, 605 off-plan units already transferred. Cityscape Global is coming up for the next month and more developers are expected to launch big-ticket projects at this event with compelling payment plans tailored for off-plan units. Developers have been given permission to sell at the Cityscape Global site and this will give them the chance to sell off more off-plan units with attractive deals in a shorter span of time.
68 new projects were launched in H1 2017 and these are cumulatively worth around Dh21 billion as per the information garnered from the Dubai Land Department. These new projects are majorly targeted at mid-income families and will add to considerable residential unit supply in the market. The lowest number of transactions in the secondary market were witnessed in June, 2017 with just 624 transfers being executed. New projects tailored for mid-income buyers have also brought several new buyers into the market and these are ones who could not buy homes previously. Most secondary market housing units are selling at premium prices in recent times and hence mid-income buyers are increasingly choosing off-plan units.
Developers are also offering attractive payment plans for buyers, providing scope for first-time buyers who could not enter the market earlier. Lower prices and these payment plans are attracting more and more first-timers into the Dubai real estate market.
