Property prices across Dubai continued to rise in March, driven by an increase in investor demand, CBRE says.
The total volume of transactions reached 7,865 last month — an increase of 83.4 per cent compared to a year earlier, while off-plan sales were up 94.6 per cent and secondary market sales up 76.1 per cent.
Total transaction volumes in the first three months reached 19,009.
Average residential property prices rose by 11.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year, CBRE said in its market snapshot. Average apartment prices were up by 10 per cent and villa prices by 20.2 per cent.
Click through the slideshow above to see where apartment prices have risen and fallen.
Where were the highest price increases in Dubai?
In the apartment sector, Green Community saw the biggest month-on-month increase in sales prices in March at 4.9 per cent.
It was followed by Dubai Sports City (4.5 per cent increase), Jebel Ali (4.2 per cent), Remraam (4 per cent) and Business Bay (3.9 per cent).
Palm Jumeirah was up 3 per cent, as was Downtown Dubai, which is the most expensive area for apartments in the city by square foot.
In the villa segment, prices on Palm Jumeirah rose the most at 4.8 per cent, along with Jumeirah, on a monthly basis in March. District One and Jumeirah Islands also had notable price increases of 3.8 per cent.
See the apartment price rises and falls in the slideshow below.
What's driving the rise in prices?
The UAE property market has been rebounding on the back of government initiatives, such as residency permits for retirees and remote workers, as well as the expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme and the economic boost from Expo 2020 Dubai.
The market has also benefited from the country's widespread coronavirus vaccination programme, which has kept cases relatively low.
“Despite the continued increase in the cost of financing and further tightening of payment plans, we have yet to see this impact transactional activity in Dubai’s residential market," said Taimur Khan, Mena head of Research at CBRE.
"In fact, the total number of transactions in March reached 7,865, up from 5,598 a month earlier. As a result, this has been the strongest first quarter on record for Dubai in terms of residential transactions.
"While average prices and average rents continue to increase, we are seeing a moderation in both sales and rental growth rates in the villa segment of the market.”
The UAE economy is expected to grow 4.9 per cent in 2022, Japan's largest lender MUFG Bank said, while Emirates NBD forecasts growth of 5.7 per cent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank estimates a 5 per cent expansion.
Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings said last month that property prices and rents in Dubai's residential market will continue to increase in 2022, in line with the trend seen in 2021.
Properties are also "relatively affordable", with prices 25 to 30 per cent below 2014 levels, despite a significant rise in 2021, the agency said.
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Dubai price changes in March - apartments
- Downtown Dubai - up 3 per cent
- Jumeirah - down 0.2 per cent
- Palm Jumeirah - up 3 per cent
- DIFC - up 2.4 per cent
- The Old Town - up 1.4 per cent
- Jumeirah Beach Residence - down 0.6 per cent
- Business Bay - up 3.9 per cent
- MBR City - up 2.6 per cent
- Dubai Hills Estate - 2.1 per cent
- Dubai Marina - down 1.1 per cent
- The Views - up 0.9 per cent
- Dubai Festival City - up 1.1 per cent
- Meydan City - down 0.5 per cent
- The Greens and The Views - up 1.7 per cent
- Jumeirah Lakes Towers - down 0.4 per cent
- Damac Hills (Akoya) - up 2 per cent
- Dubai Science Park - down 1.9 per cent
- The Greens - up 0.1 per cent
- Jebel Ali - up 4.2 per cent
- Arjan - up 4.2 per cent
- Jumeirah Village Circle - up 1.2 per cent
- Town Square - up 1.1 per cent
- Green Community (DIP) - up 4.9 per cent
- Motor City - up 2.8 per cent
- Dubai Sports City - up 4.5 per cent
- Dubai Production City (IMPZ) - down 2.5 per cent
- Living Legends - down 1.3 per cent
- Dubai Silicon Oasis - down 2.6 per cent
- Remraam - up 4 per cent
- Discovery Gardens - down 1.6 per cent
- Dubailand Residence Complex - down 1.3 per cent
- Liwan - down 2.9 per cent
- International City - up 0.1 per cent
Dubai price changes in March - villas
- Palm Jumeirah - up 4.8 per cent
- Emirates Hills - up 2.9 per cent
- Jumeirah - up 4.8 per cent
- District One - up 3.8 per cent
- MBR City - up 0.2 per cent
- The Meadows - up 2.7 per cent
- Dubai Hills Estate - up 0.8 per cent
- Jumeirah Islands - up 3.8 per cent
- The Lakes - up 2.6 per cent
- Jumeirah Golf Estates - up 2.9 per cent
- Arabian Ranches - up 1.1 per cent
- Meydan City - up 1.2 per cent
- The Springs and The Meadows - down 1.8 per cent
- Al Barari - down 2.6 per cent
- Jumeirah Park - down 2 per cent
- Victory Heights - down 2 per cent
- The Springs - down 0.5 per cent
- Damac Hills (Akoya) - up 0.7 per cent
- Mudon - up 1.9 per cent
- The Sustainable City - down 0.4 per cent
- Jumeirah Village Triangle - down 2.5 per cent
- The Villa - up 1.7 per cent
- Reem - up 1.6 per cent
- Town Square - up 1.4 per cent
- Al Furjan - down 0.5 per cent
- Living Legends - up 2.3 per cent
- Green Community (DIP) - down 1.9 per cent
- Falconcity of Wonders - up 0.2 per cent
- Jumeirah Village Circle - up 0.1 per cent
- Akoya Oxygen - down 0.2 per cent
Company%20profile
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Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
'Brazen'
Director: Monika Mitchell
Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
The specs: 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Price, base: Dh132,000
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 285hp @ 6,400rpm
Torque: 347Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.6L to 10.3L / 100km
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Ferrari
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