Half of Dubai homes sold so far this year were off-plan
More than half of residential real estate sales in Dubai this year were off-plan rather than completed homes.
A total of 3,069 off-plan homes exchanged hands in the first two months of 2019, representing 55 per cent of all Dubai residential sales in the same period, according to the UAE real estate portal Property Finder.
So-called “secondary market” sales of completed homes accounted for the remaining 45 per cent – a total of 2,463 transactions – with prices typically more attractive and affordable for this type of real estate.
“This is a far cry from the earlier cycles of the Dubai property market [up to five or 10 years ago], when off-plan sales dominated and secondary home transactions trailed by a huge margin,” Property Finder said. “This suggests that Dubai is no longer a purely investor-driven market.”
However, the figures show a 7.8 per cent year-on-year decline in the total volume of off-plan sales compared to the first two months of 2018, according to the research. By comparison, the volume of secondary market transactions in January and February this year fell only by a marginal 1.4 per cent year-on-year.