Land deals lead the way as all sectors show significant year-on-year growth.
Dubai’s real estate market has continued its buoyant start to 2025, recording total sales worth AED 142.7 billion in Q1, the second highest quarterly figure on record.
This represented a 30.3% year-on-year leap in value, while the 45,485 overall sales transactions also meant a 22.8% year-on-year increase.
A market update issued today by fäm Properties revealed that the Q1 results were only fractionally down on the all-time quarterly sales record of AED 147.2 billion from 50,218 transactions in Q4 2024.
The first quarter of 2025 saw significant year-on-year increases in all real estate sectors, led by a 193.8% jump in plot sales worth AED35.5 billion from 2,926 transactions.
Data from DXBinteract shows villa sales were up by 43.1% year-on-year to AED41.3 billion from 8,369 deals, while apartment sales rose by 12.6% to AED 62.3 billion from 32,884 transactions. Commercial sales were also up by 25.2% to AED3.6 billion from 1,212 deals.
Rising property values in recent years were highlighted by a Q1 median price of AED 1,563 per sq ft, compared with the Q1 rates of AED 889 in 2021, AED 1,124 in 2022, AED 1,283 in 2023 and AED 1,497 last year.
“Once again we’re seeing figures which emphatically underscore the remarkable resilience and strength of Dubai’s real estate market, as the consistent growth of recent years continues,” said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties.
“This sustained upward trend cements Dubai’s position as a prime real estate investment hub, drawing increasing interest from global investors alongside strong demand from local and regional buyers.”
Dubai’s Q1 property sales over the last five years have now risen to the current level from AED 21 billion (9,800 transactions) in 2020 to AED 24.6 billion (11,600) in 2021, AED 54.6 billion (20,200) in 2022, AED 89 billion (31,100) in 2023 and AED 109.5 billion (37,000) last year.
The top five performing areas of Dubai in terms of volume in Q1 were:
- Jumeirah Village Circle: 3,605 transactions valued at AED 4.559 billion
- Wadi Al Safa: 3,596 transactions valued AED7.642 billion
- Business Bay: 2,782 transactions valued at AED 7.265 billion
- Dubai South: 2,676 transactions valued AED 8.745 billion
- Dubai Marina: 2,583 transactions valued at AED9.284 billion
The most expensive individual property sold in Q1 was a luxury villa at Dubai Hills Estate which fetched AED 140 million. The most expensive apartment sold during the quarter went for AED 116 million at The Rings 1 at Jumeirah Second.
With properties worth AED1-2 million accounting for 31% of sales (14,242), 26% (11,899) were below AED1 million, 19% (8,567) between AED2-3 million, 15% (6,837) between AED3-5 million, and 9% (3,939) more than AED5 million.
Overall, first sales from developers significantly outnumbered re-sales in the secondary market – 65% over 35% in terms of volume and 61% against 39% in value.