The Palm Jumeirah held onto the top spot in terms of overall value while major sales volumes were generated from the Marina. The Dubai Marina and Business Bay remained the numero uno investment hotspots as the Dubai realty market witnessed overall sales of Dh132 billion in the first half of 2017 which is hugely positive. A total of 35, 571 deals took place and this amount indicates a sizeable gain from the first six months of 2016 where total sales of Dh113 billion were garnered as per information released by the Dubai Land Department.
The Dh113 billion in the same period last year was generated from 28, 251 transactions in the Dubai real estate market. The Land Department figures cover plots and properties sold across Dubai and not only within freehold zones. The numbers for H1 2017 indicate that there is an increase in demand and also that market sentiments have improved. There was a blockbuster Dh100 million villa deal at the very beginning of the year and this momentum was kept intact throughout these 6 months.
The first half has also witnessed a considerable number of properties being sold in the secondary market too. There were 7, 893 transactions supported through mortgages and these are cumulatively valued at Dh60 billion. The growing number of mortgage deals indicates that end-users are highly active in the Dubai real estate market. Banks have also been ensuring higher mortgage liquidity for this marketplace. For the full year in 2016, Dh259 billion of property deals were recorded and it remains to be seen whether this can be surpassed in 2017 or not.
Other neighborhoods which performed well include Jebel Ali, Al Barsha South and Al Thaniya. Palm Jumeirah contributed a whopping Dh9.5 billion in business while the Business Bay contributed Dh6.5 billion. The Burj Khalifa and Dubai Marina contributed Dh5.8 billion. The Emirati investors were involved in a whopping 4, 510 transactions cumulatively worth Dh15 billion while Saudi investors also made 1, 936 transactions valued at Dh4 billion. The investments from Gulf nationals worked out to Dh21.7 billion which is 16% higher in comparison to the same period last year.
Other investors included Indians, Chinese, Canadian and British nationals along with Pakistanis. There were 15, 062 investors in all from these nations with total deals worth Dh28.6 billion cumulatively. This represents an increase of 34% in value as compared to the same period in 2016. According to information garnered from the Dubai Land Department, sales of land contributed Dh91 billion in sales from approximately 8, 000 transactions while there were 3, 887 deals that involved whole buildings. There were deals valued at Dh15 billion made by 6, 253 women investors.
