Photo: Cherif Sleiman, Chief Revenue Officer, Property Finder
Property Finder, the leading property portal in the MENA region, has announced market performance highlights for July 2024, offering valuable insights into the real estate landscape.
According to Property Finder’s proprietary data, July was a pivotal month for the industry, as transaction values came to par with the highest peak recorded earlier this year, in May. Ten areas represented 51% of the total transactions including Al Barsha South Fourth, Business Bay, Marsa Dubai, Jebel Ali First, Wadi Al Safa and Al Thayah Fifth.
| Sales property type Preferences in July 2024 | Tenants’ property type PreferencesJuly 2024 |
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Key data highlights:
Rental Trends:
- 80% of tenants were seeking an apartment, with the remaining 20% considering villas/townhouses.
- Roughly 60% of tenants looking for apartments preferred furnished properties, while 38% turned to unfurnished options.
- Tenants who sought villas/townhouses showed a difference in preference, with around 57% searching for unfurnished units and 42% going for furnished properties.
- When searching for apartments, 37% of tenants were looking for one bedroom units, while 31.7% expressed a preference for two bedroom apartments and 20.9% for studios.
- Tenants keen to select villas/townhouses showed signs of a fairly equal distribution with 43.1% looking for three bedroom units and 35.4% searching for four bedroom or larger options.
- Top areas searched to rent apartments included Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Village Circle, Downtown Dubai, Business Bay and Deira.
- Jumeirah, Al Barsha, Dubai Hills Estate, Akoya Damac Hills, and Umm Suqeim were popular among those looking to rent villas/townhouses.
Ownership Insights:
- 59% of property seekers with an interest in ownership were looking for an apartment, while 41% were searching for villas/townhouses.
- 33.6% investors were searching for one bedroom units, with 35.2% showing an inclination for two bedroom apartments and 13.7% for studios.
- Seekers for villas/townhouses included 39.8% searching for three bedroom units and 44.9% for four bedroom or larger options.
- Popular areas for ownership were Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Village Circle, Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, and Palm Jumeirah.
- Dubai Hills Estate, Al Furjan, Palm Jumeirah, Akoya by Damac, were the most desired areas to own villas/townhouses.
Off plan vs Existing Market:
- In July 2024, the existing market recorded the highest volume and value of transactions ever, touching 8,400 transactions, compared to 6,606 transactions in May 2024, indicating an increase of 27%.
- In terms of value, the ready market recorded transactions worth AED 36 billion, crossing the highest peak recorded in June 2024 by 23%.
- The off-plan market witnessed a YoY increase of approximately 77% in volume, with around 9,300 transactions.
- The value of these transactions experienced a notable increase of 54% YoY, touching approximately AED 19.4 billion, compared to AED 12.6 billion in May 2023.
Cherif Sleiman, Chief Revenue Officer at Property Finder, said: “With the UAE striding towards its vision ‘We the Emirates 2031’, we are at an exciting time in the nation’s development journey across social, economic and investment sectors, and in turn – the real estate market. Recognising this, more people are in search of long-term homes in Dubai – evidenced by the upward trend in volume and value of transactions, while regulatory reports from Sharjah further indicate promising investment interest. Both existing and off-plan projects seem to be thriving, lending to a constant diversification of property demand, backed by growing returns on investment. Newer developments outside central city locations are also seeing growing consideration, partly due to developer efforts to sustain momentum with steady supply, while nurturing communities that appeal to a global audience. At Property Finder, we consistently innovate to support this demand and are committed to transforming the search process, powered by trust, transparency, talent and technology.”
