Dubai's house sector set for V-shaped recovery as sales hit Dh27.8b

Dubai's residential property market is set for a V-shaped recovery as per various indices for May 2020, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) said.

"Currently, the Dubai residential real estate market is going through a V-shaped recovery and when analysing various indices for May 2020, we are seeing the same V-shaped pattern in the recovery," said Latifa Ibrahim Ahmed, director of the Real Estate Studies & Research Department at DLD.

The total value of sales transactions in Dubai's residential sector hit Dh27.8 billion in the first five months of 2020 as the house price index rose by 12.1 per cent in May 2020 compared to the base year 2012, reflecting a month-on-month growth of 0.5 per cent.

The index, Mo'ashe, launched by DLD in cooperation with Property Finder, shows a 1.54 per cent increase in price index over the past two months.  

DLD said in a statement that it recorded 1,440 sales transactions worth Dh2.47 billion, comprising 66.5 per cent in the off-plan or initial sale segment and 33.5 per cent in the re-sale segment. This brings the total to 13,590 sales transactions in the first five months of 2020 worth Dh27.8 billion.

Latifa Ahmed said the index reflects the attractiveness of the Dubai real estate market despite the exceptional challenges posed by Covid-19.

The overall residential sales price index for Dubai recorded a growth of 0.5 per cent in May, said Lynnette Abad, director, Research and Data at Property Finder.  

Real estate transactions picked up immediately after the National Sterilisation Programme eased in Dubai. In May, the sector saw pent-up demand similar to what is experienced following seasonal holidays as sales and rental enquiries were significantly above the same week last year across all unit types.

The index that held strong throughout the National Sterilisation Programme during the lockdown period was the Dubai villas/townhouses Index. "The reason is that people discovered the value of outside personal spaces, leading to a significant spike in villa/townhouse demands week on week. This trend is still moving upward today."

The overall Dubai sales index for January 2020 was 1.112. It fell to 1.104 in February 2020 and further declined in March to 1.100. However, it started rising again in April 2020 when it hit 1.115 and in May, it strengthened to hit 1.121. This is an increase of 0.8 per cent since the beginning of the year and an increase of 0.54 per cent month-on-month, the report said.