Dubai: It sure hasn’t taken long for super-luxury home sales in Dubai to set some new records in 2023 – starting with a Dh410 million sale of a 3-level penthouse unit on Jumeira Bay Island’s ‘Bulgari Lighthouse’. The deal was registered on February 1 for the nine-bedroom unit that stretches over a near 39,000 square feet, according to the DXBInteract.com data.
Now, the super-sized deals didn’t end there. Also on February 1, there was another unit on Jumeira Bay island that fetched Dh112 million (13,785 square feet) for the seller, while January 30 recorded a Dh67 million one – yes, also at the same location.
The Dh410 million transaction easily clears the previous record for a Dubai penthouse, one for Dh163 million at Atlantis The Royal Residences on Palm Jumeirah, which was announced in August last.
In fact, between January 12 to February 1, a handful of Jumeira Bay based deals accounted for more than Dh2 billion in sales, according to DXBInteract.com. That’s right, one location in Dubai punching in that number.
Of course, last year, there were the high-on-visibility villa sales on the Palm, with price tags of Dh600 million and just over Dh302 million.
What these deals – and elsewhere in Dubai’s super-prime spots – reinforce is that there is no slowing down in demand for such homes. “Even during the slowest of times Dubai property market went through between 2015-late 2020, there were still luxury home sales with prices that literally set the bar high,” said a consultant.
“Demand for luxury homes in Dubai did not peak in 2022 – there’s still a lot of space that’s in play. The Dh410 million and the Dh112 million deals attest to that. These are prized assets for their new owners.
“Demand for luxury – be it homes, cars, jewellery - do not fit neatly into the yearly cycles. So, if anyone believes that 2023 will be slow for Dubai’s super-luxury real estate, they are wrong. Deals are happening – and they are the big ticket ones.”
Grab all that attention
The Dh410 million sale obviously would catch all the attention, not least for setting a new benchmark for penthouse price tags in Dubai. There are more price penthouses being listed, privately or otherwise, with some units already garnering multiple prospective buyers.
The impression among industry sources is that there could be more than a handful of Dh200 million plus penthouse deals likely to be served up before summer.
Protection of capital
Apart from the many attractions these homes provide, what matters to investors from overseas is the stability that the UAE market delivers. “In 2022, that was the most important issue for global investors – stability and security for what they are putting in,” said an analyst. “This theme of stability will continue to resonate for Dubai in 2023.
“There are still deals being finalised for luxury homes in Dubai, some of these are from new investors. The global visibility of Dubai and UAE in these two years is still bright.”
