Emaar Properties, with a market cap of Dh42.37 billion, recorded its best-ever sales in 2021, with offplan transactions up 60 per cent while the overall sales value jumped 109 per cent from Dh19.7 billion in 2020 to Dh41.2 billion in 2021.
Last year, Emaar was consistently at the top of the developer charts in offplan sales, accounting for 27 per cent share of all sales in Dubai (24 per cent in 2020). Early last year, a new property market cycle kicked into action after five years of price declines and a pandemic-driven trough in 2020.
Emaar’s property sales rose 209 per cent to Dh33.762 billion compared to Dh10.902 billion in 2020, with domestic sales increasing by 335 per cent to Dh27.517 billion. On the back of robust sales in the UAE, Emaar registered an 80 per cent jump in net profit to Dh3.8 billion.
Revenues witnessed solid growth hitting Dh28.27 billion, up 57 per cent over the Dh18 billion from a year-ago period. Due to the fundamental shift occurring in the real estate market and the company’s approach to portfolio optimization, Emaar’s prime and highly sustainable assets will continue to benefit.
A full-scale comeback
The figures illustrate the rebound in the Dubai property market that led to residential property values rising by almost 10 per cent at the end of 2021. In part, this was due to Dubai’s approach in handling and rebounding from the Covid crisis, as well as reforms that encouraged foreign investment and talent to move to Dubai.
A tightening of supply management prior to the pandemic may also have contributed. The real estate market is facing a lack of availability in high-quality communities and which will give the developers an opportunity to bridge this gap. An increase in interest rates will raise the cost of finance for mortgage-backed homeowners. This will make a lot of buyers opt for offplan projects and drive a them towards those developers offering extended payment plans.
With further increases in property values in January, Dubai real estate has started the year on a high note. This is an indication that 2022 will carry on the momentum. The visa reforms and the transition of Expo 2020 into District 2020 are likely to be the key factors that will drive the trend.
