Dubai’s real estate sector continues to witness strong price growth, driven by strong demand and an influx of new residents and investors seeking to capitalize on the city’s offerings. Since the beginning of the year, home values in Dubai have increased by an average of 8.1 percent and are projected to grow a further 10 percent before December.
May 2025 saw the ValuStrat Price Index achieve 217.5 points, marking a 1.6 percent monthly increase and a 24.7 percent rise since May last year. Villa values climbed to 286 points, while apartments reached 172.8 points, all benchmarked to a base of 100 points in January 2021.
Villa capital values grow 2 percent in May
The latest ValuStrat report revealed that villa capital values grew 2 percent monthly, with an annual increase of 29.3 percent. The strongest annual performers included villas in Jumeirah Islands, Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills and The Meadows.
Meanwhile, the lowest gains were recorded in Mudon at 8.5 percent, which has remained relatively stable for the ninth consecutive month. Dubai’s freehold villas are, on average, valued 66.4 percent above the previous market peak in 2014 and 175.1 percent higher than post-pandemic levels.
Apartment prices rise 20 percent annually
The report also revealed that apartment prices across Dubai’s real estate sector rose by 1.1 percent monthly and 20 percent annually. The highest yearly capital gains were seen in The Greens at 25.5 percent, Dubailand Residence Complex at 24.1 percent, Palm Jumeirah at 23.8 percent, Dubai Silicon Oasis at 23.7 percent and Town Square at 23 percent.
In contrast, the lowest capital value increases were in International City and the Burj Khalifa, which has recently surpassed its previous price peaks of 2014. Apartment valuations are, on average, 71.2 percent above post-pandemic levels, but 5.8 percent below the previous market peak during 2014.
Off-plan home sales grow 18.5 percent
ValuStrat also revealed that Oqood registrations for off-plan homes rose by 3.9 percent monthly and 18.5 percent annually in May, accounting for 72 percent of total residential real estate sales in Dubai. Meanwhile, ready secondary-home transactions were up 1.9 percent from the previous month and 4.4 percent annually.
There were 29 transactions for ready properties priced over AED30 million last month, situated in DIFC, Palm Jumeirah, Arabian Ranches, Jumeirah Bay Island, The Lakes, Jumeirah Islands, District One and Jumeirah Golf Estates. May 2025 also saw Emaar, Damac, Sobha, Binghatti, Nakheel, Azizi and Meraas lead the developer sales charts, respectively.
Read: Dubai’s ultra-luxury property market: Haven for the ‘rich, richer and richest’
Top locations emerge
The Dubai real estate report revealed that the top off-plan locations transacted last month included projects in Jumeirah Village Circle, Damac Island City, Business Bay, Sobha Hartland 2 and Uptown Motor City, an area which broke its individual record with the highest number of off-plan homes traded in one month.
Meanwhile, the majority of ready home sales were concentrated in Jumeirah Village Circle at 11.3 percent, Business Bay at 5 percent, Dubai Marina at 4.9 percent, Downtown Dubai at 3.6 percent, and International City at 3.4 percent.
Notably, both Dubai Silicon Oasis and Jumeirah Village Circle recorded their highest-ever monthly volume of ready home transactions.
