As mid-income end-users and investors snap up ‘cheap’ apartments in Business Bay, the towers are experiencing one of the fastest growth rates in Dubai’s property market. The first half of this year saw most of the value gains. According to some estimates, the cluster’s units have increased by 17% in two years, compared to 25-30% in Dubai Marina.
This also demonstrates that increases in Dubai’s residential values are not limited to the Palm, Dubai Marina, Dubai Hills, and other high-end neighborhoods.
“The significant growth in residential prices in Business Bay over the last two years is part of a broader repivoting of the city’s center of gravity towards central Dubai, encompassing DIFC, the Sheikh Zayed Road area between Trade Centre and Dusit Thani as well as Downtown,” said Faisal Durrani, Partner – Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank. “Business Bay has found itself on the doorstep to Dubai’s main business district and in very close proximity to arguably the emirate’s most lifestyle retail rich neighborhoods, such as Jumeirah and Al Safa.”
And it’s no longer simply about the Dh1 million to Dh3 million apartments in Business Bay. Ticket prices for super-premium offers in and around Central Dubai are now ranging from $10 million to $20 million, ‘which would have been considered outrageous five years ago,’ and ‘providing Business Bay the privileged position as an emerging premier location in Dubai.’
Price comparison
Over the course of 2019-20, about 7,000 flats were delivered at Business Bay, with prices that were on average 27% lower than those in Downtown. After the worst of the Covid phase, Business Bay began to see buyer interest in the fourth quarter of 2020, starting with the larger apartments. Then there was Deyaar, which announced the opening of a Dh700 million tower called ‘Regalia’ in June 2021.