REALTY BYTES

2017 was a year of change in the Dubai real estate market, where we witnessed real estate trends transform to new and refreshing positions, off-plan sales revive market sentiment and an abundance of supply open the doors for many affordable opportunities in the sales market and offer more options and lower rents in the rental market.

More affordable properties

The current momentum in sales activity is driven by a larger proportion of end-users than before, particularly first-time buyers, who are entering the market enthused by lower prices and encouraged by attractive payment plans offered by some developers.

Off-plan market

Off-plan sales has dominated 2017, accounting for 68 per cent of all sales transactions to date and has increased by 55 per cent year on year. As of November 27, there have been 18,657 off-plan apartment sales transactions. The most popular unit types for off-plan apartment sales were one-bedrooms, accounting for 39 per cent of these sales transactions and studios accounting for 36 per cent of the transactions.

As per the Property Monitor database, the top five areas for offplan apartment sales to date are (in order): > Jumeirah Village Circle covering 11 per cent of the transaction volume with the top three projects being Ghalia Constella, Belgravia and Bloom Heights. > Business Bay covering 11 per cent of the transaction volume with the top three projects being Aykon City, Bayz by Danube and Damac Towers by Paramount. > Downtown Burj Khalifa covering 10 per cent of the transaction volume with over 1,500 units sold in the Downtown area and over 300 units sold in the Opera District. > Al Furjan covering eight per cent of the transaction volume with the top three projects being Azizi Residence,

secondary market

The secondary market accounted for 32 per cent of the sales transactions