Palm Jumeirah retains top spot for Dubai's costliest property sales for Q1-2022 - and it was helped by a Dh280m deal

Dubai: Homes on the Palm again had the highest number of entries – four – in the costliest homes sold in Dubai during the first three months of 2022 – and a task made easier by a whopping Dh280 million deal for a 33,000 square foot home on the island’s Frond N. That is easily the costliest deal in the city by quite a mile.

Second place went to a Dh88.2 million home on Jumeira Bay Island, while another Palm home sold for Dh87 million, according to Luxhabitat Sotheby's data. Villas definitely are fuelling the demand, and within the space, shell-and-core units are in particular demand.

"Shell-and-core villas are among the highest demanded properties which end-users are looking to put their signature on,” said Chris Whitehead, Managing Partner at the brokerage firm. “Second only to offplan branded residences, which are reselling for highest premiums recorded.”

Shell-and-core villas are among the highest demanded properties which end-users are looking to put their signature. Second only to offplan branded residences, which are reselling for the highest premiums recorded.

- Chris Whitehead, Managing Partner at the brokerage firm

Those branded residences – from the likes of Atlantis, The Dorchester Collection, etc. – have seen price tags hit an eye-popping Dh6,800 a square foot. The asking prices could be inching higher, with new launches on the Palm expected to test these levels.

On villas, investors with units in hand – relatively new ones, preferably – are sitting pretty in catching demand that is burning bright. It will be a year or two before Dubai sees sustained completions of new villas. This time gap will afford existing owners to test whether buyers are ready for higher asking prices. (But don’t go in for sudden hikes – that will only put off buyers.)

Happening locations

For upscale homes, MBR City, the Palm and Downtown were the busiest on the transactions side in the first quarter, with the first two each accounting for Dh3 billion plus in deals. The Downtown numbers came to Dh2.6 billion.

Given the trends so far in April, market watchers are expecting another bumper quarter, with more European buyers likely to enter. The average apartment sale in the premium space was fetching Dh2.4 million, according to Luxhabitat Sotheby’s data, with the per square foot at Dh1,431.