Sales of properties valued at more than Dh5 million and Dh10 million achieved a record high last year, but overall sales in the prime and super-prime segments decreased.
Properties valued at more than Dh5 million and Dh10 million saw 10,296 and 3,806 transactions, respectively, in 2023, according to real estate consultancy CBRE.
This amounts to a 54.5 percent and 68.4 percent increase, respectively.
According to the report, of all properties valued at Dh5 million or more, and Dh10 million or more, off-plan sales accounted for 67.2% and 70.8% of the total transaction volumes, respectively.
Additionally, it stated that due to the high level of demand, the majority of sales in these two segments have taken place in relatively new developments, many of which are still developing into prime locations. Downtown Dubai, Emirates Hills, Jumeirah Bay Island, Palm Jumeirah, and District One are considered prime and super-prime areas; properties sold in these areas for more than Dh5 million are considered prime properties, and properties sold for more than Dh10 million are considered super-prime properties. The overall volume of sales transactions within the prime and super-prime segments decreased by 15.5% and 3.1%, respectively.
In terms of both prime and super-prime market segments, Palm Jumeirah had the highest volume of transactions; 963 units total worth more than Dh5 million, and 593 properties total worth more than Dh10 million were sold.
Price growth
With Jumeirah Bay Island and District One leading the way, average prices in the prime segment of the market increased by 35.6 percent and 27.2 percent year over year to Dh4,604 per square foot in Q4 2023, respectively, a 22.5 percent increase from the previous year. In the communities that CBRE oversees, the average sales price of prime residential assets was Dh28.3 million.
The average price in the super-prime segment increased by 20.4% in Q4 2023 to Dh4,900 per square foot.
The two properties with the largest increases in average sales rates were Jumeirah Bay Island and District One, at 28.5 and 22.4 percent, respectively. The final quarter of the year saw super-prime units in a few CBRE-monitored submarkets record average selling prices of Dh34.1 million, helped by high-value deals on Emirates Hills and Jumeirah Bay Island.