Dubai property sales hit nearly $5bln in November

Expo 2020 is having a positive impact on Dubai property sales, with transaction volumes reaching close to $5 billion in November, making it the best month in almost eight years, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) said on Thursday. 

“It has been over 70 days since Expo2020 started, and the greatest show in the world may have had ripple effects on the Dubai real estate market as November 2021 showed the highest monthly sales figures in eight years,” the government agency said in a statement. 

It said November 2021 had 6,989 sales transactions worth 17.95 billion dirhams ($4.89 billion), making it the best November on record since Jan 2014. 

Total sales transactions were up 58.79 percent on the same month in 2020, and values up 88.37 percent, the department said. 

More than half of the transactions, 54 percent, were in the secondary or ready property market, with the remaining 46 percent off-plan. 

The Land Department said their data showed that Expo 2020 Dubai has a positive effect on Dubai’s real estate market movement. 

“This activity was directly reflected in the market's performance, where an upward trend is observed and is likely to continue in the coming year.” 

DLD’s 21st edition of Mo’asher, the emirate’s sales price index, which has a base month of January 2012 and a base quarter of Q1 2012, was 1.156 for November 2021, with an index price of 1,115,937 dirhams. 

The index is the highest since March 2019. 

Transactions for the year to date, including November, have reached a total of 55,640, worth 135.4 billion dirhams, already the highest yearly sales figure since 2014. 

Month-on-month, from October to November, total sales transaction value increased by 36.82 percent and volume increased by 30.59 percent. 

“Comparing overall performance for the month compared to November 2020, November 2021 had 80.1 percent more sales transactions that were valued at 138.7 percent more.” 

“For a more realistic comparison, when we compare it to November 2019, November 2021 had 45.2 percent more sales transactions, which were 104.1 percent more in value,” the statement concluded.