Affordability in Dubai driving five-year high in villa and townhouse sales

Villa and townhouse sales in Dubai hit a five-year high in the first three quarters of 2019 driven by the introduction of affordable housing to the emirate, according to the latest statistics from Property Finder.

The year through to the end of September saw 5,812 villa and townhouse transactions registered in Dubai – while the number of cumulative transactions in the first three quarters of the year surpassed the volume of villa and townhouse deals for the whole of 2017 and 2018.

“In 2017, we saw the first wave of affordable townhouses hit the market in Reem Mira and they were in high demand. Developers have since followed suit as they realised the trend and demand for affordable stock was clearly there, said Lynnette Abad, director of data and research, Property Finder.

Villa and townhouse transactions in the summer of 2019 again hit a five-year high, with 1,841 deals registered.

In terms of the best month for sales, September showed up as the best month with 965 units sold.

The third quarter of 2019 also saw impressive sales (2,310) for villas and townhouses, ranking second in terms of performance since 2015.

Ready villas

As well as affordability, ready units have been the main driver of villa and townhouse sales so far this year. Dubai has already registered 3,035 ready villa and townhouse sales in the first three quarters of 2019, hitting a five-year high. In comparison, only 2,591 ready villas and townhouses were sold in the corresponding time in 2018 and 1,446 such units in 2017.

The summer of 2019 was also the best in the past five years for ready villa and townhouse sales, with 877 units changing hands; while Q2 (1,048 sales) and Q3 (1,028) of 2019 ranked second and third respectively for the highest number of villa and townhouse sales since 2015.

April 2019 was the best month for villa and townhouse sales (469) in the last five years, followed by October 2018 (395) and March 2018 (385).

“There is a good amount of affordable villas and townhouses available in the market today and investors have their choice, both in the ready and off-plan sectors. There are also good deals to be had in the off-plan and ready space as developers are eager to clear their inventory,” Abad added.

September 2019 saw the second-highest number of transactions for off-plan villa and townhouses (601) in the past five years, ranking behind February 2017 (927).

The summer of 2019 was also the second-best for villa and townhouse sales (964) since 2015, only trailing the summer of 2015 (973).

Dubai has registered 2,777 off-plan villa and townhouse sales cumulatively in the first three quarters of 2019.

The communities of Villanova (395) and Dubai South (314) have seen the highest number of villa and townhouse transactions this year. In the ready space, Wasl Gate in Jebel Ali (219), Emirates Living (101) and Dubai Hills Estate (77) have dominated sales while in the off-plan segment, Villanova (379), Dubai South (309) and Arabian Ranches 3 (247) have accounted for most sales.