Dubai: $10 million home sales hit new record as ultra-prime property segment soars

Dubai: The sales of houses valued at $10 million or more hit a record high in Dubai last year. As many as 93 ultra-prime homes were sold in 2021, more than the last five years combined, global property consultancy Knight Frank said.

In fact, 2021 accounted for 39 per cent of all $10 million home sales in Dubai since 2010, data showed.

Overall, Dubai’s residential market recorded over 52,000 apartment and villa transactions in 2021, totalling Dh114.2 billion, more than the total for 2019 and 2020 combined.

“This underscores the phenomenal depth of demand at the top end of the market. And these UHNWI continue to pour into the city’s luxury residential market from locations such as India, Russia and Europe, including buyers from Switzerland and Monaco,” said Faisal Durrani, Partner – Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank.

“What’s more, our Prime Dubai Index, which encapsulates Emirates Hills, Jumeirah Bay Island and the Palm Jumeirah, have together seen house prices climb by 44.4 per cent in the 12-months to the end of September 2021. Interestingly this isn’t the quickest rate of expansion; that accolade goes to Q3 2017, when prime values rose by 57.3 per cent.”

The picture is, however, somewhat different in the more mainstream market, particularly when it comes to apartments. The pandemic continues to fuel the race for space as working habits shift. Larger homes remain in high demand, and this is reflected in the fact that villa transactions continue to climb. In Q4, the market registered a 29 per cent quarterly increase in the number of villas sold.

Villa prices have jumped nearly 22 per cent since the start of the pandemic, while apartment values have not had the same increases, over the same period, Knight Frank’s research reveals.

Andrew Cummings, Partner – Head of Prime Residential at Knight Frank Middle East, added: “In December 2020, Dubai was the world’s first major city to reopen its borders, sending a very strong message to international travellers and investors. In such a sentiment-driven market, this has had unintended, but positive consequences. Several record-breaking deals have been recorded since the start of the pandemic as result of this flood of UHNWI-linked capital.

“Indeed, a new record was set last summer with the $32.9 million sale of a villa on Jumeirah Bay Island to a European buyer. And prior to the sale of the Jumeirah Bay Island mansion, the most expensive home to sell in 2021 was on the Palm Jumeirah, where One100 Palm sold for over $30 million last spring. Land plots too have registered record deal sizes, with a double plot on Jumeirah Bay Island selling for Dh150 million in January 2022 – the highest price on record for land on the island.”