Dubai's real estate market set to continue expanding in 2023

Dubai's real estate sector has demonstrated its ability to maintain its rapid growth and enhance its attractiveness."

Dubai announced on Monday record real estate transactions of over 132 billion euros in 2022, boosted by a large influx of Russian nationals fleeing the Western sanctions that have hit their country since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. In particular, Russians bought properties in some of the most sought-after districts of the wealthy Gulf emirate, where real estate, a key sector alongside tourism and finance, has been constantly buffeted by upheavals, such as the severe crisis of 2009 and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"Dubai's annual real estate transactions have crossed the half-trillion dirham mark for the first time", around 132 billion euros, said the communications department of the government of Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. The "record" value of these transactions amounts to 528 billion dirhams in 2022, an increase of 76.5%" over the previous year, it said in a statement. 

With its glittering skyscrapers and artificial islands, the real estate sector accounts for around a third of Dubai's economy and has grown steadily since the relaxation of pandemic-related health restrictions. Russians were the biggest international buyers of property in Dubai last year, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing Betterhomes, a leading real estate broker based in the emirate.  

"Dubai's real estate sector has demonstrated its ability to maintain its rapid growth and enhance its attractiveness," boasted Sultan Butti ben Mejren, head of the emirate's land agency. Prices peaked in 2008 on the back of speculation, but plummeted after the liquidity crisis that accompanied the financial crash of 2009, causing the sector to lose half its value. Since then, prices have fluctuated between rises and falls in the face of abundant supply.

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