Dubai Shift to Affordable Properties Under AED1 Million

There has been a shift by overseas property investors in Dubai towards properties costing under AED1 million.

The move away from luxury properties towards those costing under AED1 million was revealed by Data Finder, the real estate data and insights platform under the Property Finder Group.

It was found that the shift in Dubai’s property market away from luxury meant that 41 per cent of the overall 37,788 residential transactions in Dubai last year relating to units under AED1 million.

Lynnette Abad, director of data & research, Property Finder, said: ‘In H2 of last year, we started to see an increase in investor activity buying studios and one-bedroom properties, presumably gearing up toward Expo 2020 with rental income in mind.

Communities that clocked the highest number of overall sales for residential properties priced below AED1 million in 2019 were Jumeirah Village Circle (1,473 transactions), International City (1,426), Meydan (1,079), Business Bay (976) and Jumeirah Lakes Towers (887), according to Data Finder. The average sale price for a property in JVC was AED586,389 in 2019.

Dubai registered 9,044 off-plan transactions for units below AED1 million in 2019. In the off-plan market, Meydan accounted for most deals (1,040), followed by Dubai Hills Estate (812), JVC (783), Business Bay (768) and Dubai South (689). The average sale price for an off-plan property in Meydan City was AED605,777.

There were 6,472 deals on the secondary market for properties priced below AED1 million in 2019. International City accounted for most such deals (1,128) in the secondary market, followed by JVC (690), Al Furjan (507), Dubai Sports City and Dubai Marina (469 each). The average sale price for a ready property in International City was AED313,173 last year.

With Expo 2020 imminent it seems that overseas property investors are moving back into the Dubai property market, but at lower levels, anticipating an upswing in the market.