Dubai's real estate market has continued its buoyant start to 2025, recording total sales worth AED 142.7 billion in Q1, the second-highest quarterly figure. This represented a 30.3% year-on-year leap in value, while the 45,485 overall sales transactions also meant a 22.8% year-on-year increase.
A market update issued by fäm Properties revealed that the Q1 results were only fractionally down on the all-time quarterly sales record of AED 147.2 billion from 50,218 transactions in Q4 2024.
The first quarter of 2025 saw significant year-on-year increases in all real estate sectors, led by a 193.8% jump in plot sales worth AED35.5 billion from 2,926 transactions.
Data from DXBinteract offers villa sales increased 43.1% year-on-year to AED41.3 billion from 8,369 deals, while apartment sales rose 12.6% to AED 62.3 billion from 32,884 transactions. Commercial sales were also up by 25.2% to AED3.6 billion from 1,212 deals.
Rising property values in recent years were highlighted by a Q1 median price of AED 1,563 per sq ft, compared with the Q1 rates of AED 889 in 2021, AED 1,124 in 2022, AED 1,283 in 2023 and AED 1,497 last year.
Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties, said, "Once again, we’re seeing figures which emphatically underscore the remarkable resilience and strength of Dubai's real estate market, as the consistent growth of recent years continues." “This sustained upward trend cements Dubai’s position as a prime real estate investment hub, drawing increasing interest from global investors alongside strong demand from local and regional buyers.”
Dubai’s Q1 property sales over the last five years have now risen to the current level from AED 21 billion (9,800 transactions) in 2020 to AED 24.6 billion (11,600) in 2021, AED 54.6 billion (20,200) in 2022, AED 89 billion (31,100) in 2023 and AED 109.5 billion (37,000) last year.
In Q1, Dubai's real estate market saw strong performance in several key areas. The top five performing locations in terms of transaction volume were led by Jumeirah Village Circle, with 3,605 transactions valued at AED 4.559 billion. Close behind was Wadi Al Safa, which recorded 3,596 transactions worth AED 7.642 billion. Business Bay followed with 2,782 transactions valued at AED 7.265 billion, while Dubai South saw 2,676 transactions totalling AED 8.745 billion. Finally, Dubai Marina had 2,583 transactions, reaching a total value of AED 9.284 billion. These areas demonstrated substantial activity and continued investment interest in Dubai’s property market.
The most expensive individual property sold in Q1 was a luxury villa at Dubai Hills Estate, which fetched AED 140 million. The most expensive apartment sold during the quarter was at The Rings 1 at Jumeirah Second, which totalled AED 116 million.
With properties worth AED1-2 million accounting for 31% of sales (14,242), 26% (11,899) were below AED1 million, 19% (8,567) between AED2-3 million, 15% (6,837) between AED3-5 million, and 9% (3,939) more than AED5 million.
Overall, first sales from developers significantly outnumbered re-sales in the secondary market - 65% over 35% in terms of volume and 61% against 39% in value.
