Villa prices go up as high as 10.3% in Dubai’s prime areas

Villas, which represent 13 per cent of the residential market in Dubai, spearheaded growth with a quarterly increase of seven per cent and an annual expansion of 6.3 per cent

Dubai villa prices sustained an upward trend during the second quarter of 2021 as end-users and investors flocked to strike deals for ready-to-move properties, the latest data shows.

Villas, which represent 13 per cent of the residential market in Dubai, spearheaded growth with a quarterly increase of seven per cent and an annual expansion of 6.3 per cent.

“Up to 10.3 per cent record, annual gains were registered in prime villa locations and most of the Dubai’s areas recovered their capital losses of last year,” according to a ValuStrat report released on Wednesday.

The report said June sales transactions leapfrogged May by 68 per cent while month-on-month performance saw ready-home sales surged 75.5 per cent and off-plan Oqood (contract) registrations expanded 59.5 per cent. It further said residential sales volumes during the April-June quarter surpassed 7,500 transactions, breaking the previous quarter record, and every other quarter since 2010.

“Transacted price per square foot has crossed Dh1,000 for the first time in three years,” according to ValuStrat’s VPI report for April-June 2021 quarter.

The highest annual capital gains were recorded in Arabian Ranches (10.3 per cent), Jumeirah Islands (9.1 per cent), Dubai Hills Estate (nine per cent), The Lakes (8.2 per cent), Mudon (7.7 per cent), and The Meadows (7.2 per cent) as the investors and end-users preferred to move in these areas.

Apartments prices stable

The latest data for apartments also showed that prices grew 1.7 per cent quarterly, but did not perform as well as villas on an annual basis, still declining 4.8 per cent when compared to last year.

“Jumeirah Beach Residence, Palm Jumeirah, Downtown Dubai, and The Views were the best quarterly performers. This is contrasted with Jumeirah Village, Dubai Marina, The Greens and Dubai Production City. However, compared to last year, apartments in International City, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Al Furjan, and Al Quoz Fourth, have recovered their capital losses of last year,” the report said.

The report further noticed that 42 per cent of home transactions were off-plan compared to 58 per cent being ready to move in to. Properties developed by Emaar, Azizi, Nakheel, Damac, and Seven Tides, topped the sales charts overall, it added.

Top off-plan locations transacted during June were in Meydan One, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Sobha Hartland and Business Bay. Most transacted ready homes were located in International City, Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Green Community West and Dubai Hills Estate, the report said.

Property prices up

The VPI — Residential Capital Values for Dubai as of June 2021 continued its monthly growth at an accelerated 1.5 per cent to 69 points, aggregating 5.5 per cent since the start of the year.

“There is still a long way to reach 100 points registered as of January 2014, not to mention the peak of June 2014 which saw the citywide VPI achieve 112.9 points,” the report said.

In another report released by Property Monitor, property prices continued upward trend in June, increasing for the eighth successive month and spiked 2.1 per cent and now stood at Dh924 per sqft.

"We are increasingly observing a trend where European buyers are emerging as a key demographic driving sales with most being end users. Based on our conversations with brokers and industry experts, the key motivation here is the relocation of entire families from Europe as opposed to the sole breadwinner living in Dubai. As further evidence of this trend, several schools have reported an uptick in enrolments of new residents,” said Zhann Jochinke, COO, Property Monitor.

Mortgages for villas and townhouses increased month-on-month while loans for apartments declined, reflecting buyer preferences.

“Overall, at 2,135, new loans for June fell by 9.4 per cent over the previous month, driven by a decline in bulk mortgages, which are primarily taken out for apartment buildings,” Property Monitor report said.

“The average mortgage in June was Dh1.78 million and the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio was 74.4 per cent with buyers putting down healthy deposits,” it added.