Dubai’s property market continues to record increases in prices, with low and mid-end markets becoming less affordable as these areas continue to experience faster monthly capital gains, while high-end prime locations are seeing more moderate growth.
March 2025 saw the ValuStrat Price Index reach 210.8 points, marking a 1.6 percent monthly increase and a 25.9 percent annual rise. Villa values climbed to 275 points, while apartments reached 169 points, all benchmarked to a base of 100 points in January 2021.
Apartment prices rise 21.4 percent
Apartment prices in Dubai rose by 1.2 percent monthly and 21.4 percent annually. The highest yearly capital gains were seen in The Greens at 27.4 percent, Dubailand Residence Complex at 25.5 percent and Palm Jumeirah at 25.2 percent. Town Square also recorded a yearly capital gain of 24.4 percent, while the Views recorded a 24.3 percent increase.
In contrast, the lowest capital value increases were recorded in International City at 14.9 percent and the Burj Khalifa at 17.4 percent.
Apartment valuations are, on average, 67 percent above post-pandemic levels but 8 percent below the previous market peak. However, Jumeirah Beach Residence is the latest community to cross previous price highs after Palm Jumeirah and The Greens.
Villa prices grow 30.3 percent
In March 2025, Dubai’s property market witnessed a 2 percent monthly increase in villa prices and an annual increase of 30.3 percent.
The strongest annual performers included villas in Jumeirah Islands at 42 percent, Palm Jumeirah at 41.5 percent, Emirates Hills at 30.5 percent, and The Meadows at 29.6 percent. Meanwhile, the lowest gains were recorded in Mudon at 9.3 percent, which has remained relatively stable for the seventh consecutive month.
Dubai’s freehold villas are, on average, valued 60 percent above the previous market peak and 165 percent higher than post-pandemic levels.
Off-plan properties represent 69.7 percent of all home sales
The latest ValuStrat report also revealed that Oqood (contract) registrations for off-plan homes in Dubai dropped 7.4 percent monthly but were up 19.3 percent on an annual basis, representing 69.7 percent of all home sales in March. The volume of ready secondary-home transactions also fell by 2.4 percent monthly but was 1.1 percent higher than last year.
In March, Dubai saw 23 transactions for ready properties priced over AED30 million, situated in Dubai Hills Estate, Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills, Jumeirah Bay Island, Business Bay, Al Barari, Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The month also saw Emaar, Damac, Binghatti, Nakheel, Sobha and Danube lead the developer sales charts overall. Emaar took the largest share at 15.2 percent while Danube’s share reached 2.9 percent.
Top off-plan locations in Dubai
Top off-plan locations transacted in Dubai included projects in:
- Jumeirah Village Circle at 9.2 percent.
- Business Bay at 7.4 percent.
- Damac Island City at 5.7 percent.
- Dubai Production City at 5.3 percent.
- Dubai Maritime City at 4.8 percent.
Last month, Dubai Production City and Uptown Motor City broke their individual records with the highest number of off-plan homes traded in one month. Meanwhile, most ready homes sold were in Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Downtown Dubai and International City.
Read| Dubai real estate: Property prices to rise 5-10 percent in 2025 as investor demand grows
Property sales surge 30.3 percent in Q1 2025
Dubai’s property market maintained its upward trajectory in 2025, recording total sales worth AED142.7 billion ($38.85 billion) in the first quarter. This figure represents the second-highest quarterly figure on record and marks a 30.3 percent year-on-year leap in value. During the first quarter of 2025, the city saw 45,485 sales transactions, up 22.8 percent compared to Q1 of 2024.
A recent report from fäm Properties revealed that the Q1 results were only marginally less than the all-time quarterly sales record of AED147.2 billion from 50,218 transactions in Q4 2024.
