UAE Real Estate Market Review Q2 2024

Key Takeaways:

1. The UAE’s GDP is expected to grow by 3.8% in 2024, marginally down from the 3.9% rate of growth forecast in the previous quarter.
2. Leasing activity in Dubai’s occupier market has seen a significant surge during the second quarter of 2024, where the number of rental registrations increased by 38.4% compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 41,495.
3. As a result of the current market backdrop and heightened levels of absorption, rental performance within Abu Dhabi’s office market improved further, where in the second quarter of 2024, average rents within the Prime, Grade A, and Grade B segments of the market registered year-on-year increases of 9.1%, 7.4%, and 14.5%, respectively.
4. In the second quarter of 2024, Abu Dhabi’s average apartment prices registered a year-on-year increase of 6.2%, and average villa prices grew by 3.9% over the same period.
5. Strong performance levels continue to be seen in Dubai’s residential market, where in the year to June 2024, average prices registered an increase of 21.3% compared to the year prior, up from the 20.1% growth registered a month earlier. This increase has been underpinned by a rise of 20.7% in average apartment prices and a 24.3% increase in average villa prices.
6. In the year to date to June 2024, a total of 73,618 residential transactions have been registered in Dubai, the most on record during the first half of a year, while registering a year-on-year increase of 27.6%. Off-plan sales increased by 41.0% throughout the same period, and secondary market sales rose by 8.2%.
7. The strong levels of visitation continue to underpin the robust performance within the UAE’s hospitality segment of the market. Year-on-year in the year to date to June 2024, the average occupancy rate across the country registered an increase of 1.7 percentage points.
8. Rental performance remained strong in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s retail markets, where during the second quarter of 2024, average retail rents in Abu Dhabi increased by 3.6% from the previous year, and average rents in Dubai increased by 6.0% over this period.
9. In the industrial and logistics market, in Q2 2024, average rents in Abu Dhabi increased by 4.7% compared to the year prior, and over this period, average rents in Dubai registered a year-on-year growth of 10.6%.