The entire world is trying to come to terms with the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 outbreak, and the UAE is no different. While social distancing has created challenges for business continuity in the last two weeks, Dubai's real estate sector has been largely unaffected in the first quarter of 2020, since the government began introducing restrictive measures to safeguard public safety from the second week of March, according to UAE property website Bayut on Sunday. As per the latest data released by Bayut, the Dubai real estate market has been showing promising signs of stability with property prices across popular areas in the emirate holding steady or even slightly increasing in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the prices in the fourth quarter of 2019. While the ongoing pandemic is likely to impact the market in the coming months, the overall trend in the first three months of 2020 is in line with the patterns observed throughout last year. Well-integrated affordable communities have remained a firm favourite with tenants, while upscale neighbourhoods with family-friendly amenities have gained popularity with buyers and investors. The leading property classifieds website has also reported that key neighbourhoods such as Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and Downtown Dubai have held strong, with continued competitive prices attracting prospective buyers in Dubai. While prices have remained competitive, transaction volumes have also gone up in the emirate as per DLD, which recorded a total of 10,272 real estate transactions in the first quarter of 2020 amounting to a value of Dh20.86 billion. This is a substantial increase compared to the 8,021 transactions carried out in the last quarter of 2019, worth Dh15.94 billion, stated the report. In terms of popularity, demand has increased for neighbourhoods close to the Expo site with buyers and investors interested in purchasing ready villas in Dubai as per data released by Bayut. Dubailand's fast developing community, The Villa has secured the top spot with potential buyers interested in purchasing villas in Dubai, beating the usual favourites of Arabian Ranches and Palm Jumeirah to the second and third position respectively, it added. The price per square foot in The Villa has remained relatively unchanged, declining by an almost negligible 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2020, to average at Dh669. The average price per square foot in Arabian Ranches has seen a minor increase of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2020, averaging at Dh903, up from Dh881 in the fourth quarter of 2019. Villas for sale in the waterfront community of Palm Jumeirah have shown healthy signs of recovery with price per sq ft increasing by 5.3 percent from Dh2,095 in the fourth quarter of 2019 to Dh2,206 in the first quarter of 2020. This could be attributed to natural market corrections that have been happening over the course of the last year after several off plan projects including the sophisticated XXII Carat Villas were handed over in the area, said the report by Bayut. Other popular areas to buy villas in Dubai include established communities such as The Springs and Emirates Hills and newer developments such as Dubai Hills Estate, it stated. Bayut's CEO Haider Ali Khan said: “Before this unfortunate global event impacted all of our lives, property prices across the emirate were showing encouraging signs of stabilising, based on Bayut's data from the first quarter.” “We also noticed a surge in interest for residential property listings in Dubai with close to 15 million searches conducted in the first quarter. Similarly, there were also uplifting signs from a transactional perspective, with the DLD reporting well over 10,000 sales transactions from January to March,” stated Khan. “Although the first quarter shows some healthy numbers, we should be prepared to see some fluctuations in the coming months as the UAE continues to lead the region's fight against Covid-19,” he stated. “While the government has been proactive by announcing stimulus packages to support the industry, we still need to wait and observe the impact on consumer interest in the following quarter,” he added.
