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Annual report

Dubai property market — 2016

Every figure below comes from sale transactions registered with the Dubai Land Department and dated inside 2016. Mortgages and gifts are excluded; the register's own record of a sale is the only source.

Sales42,675Registered in 2016down0.3% vs the year before
Total valueAED 109.10BRegistered in 2016Across 163 communities
Price per sqftAED 940/sqftMedian across 2016down2.7% vs the year before
Sale priceAED 1.23MMedian across 201640% sold off-plan

In a sentence

The Land Department registered 42,675 property sales in 2016, worth AED 109.10B in total, across 163 communities. That is 0% fewer than the year before.

The median sale was AED 1,229,000 at AED 940/sqft, 2.7% below the year before. 40% of sales were off-plan.

Business Bay was the busiest community with 2,931 registered sales, while Burj Khalifa took the most money at AED 6.77B.

Against the previous year, Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid rose 210% to 1,535 sales, while Al Merkadh fell 75% to 103.

Sales by year

Price per square foot by year

Median price per sqft

Where the sales were

The fifteen communities with the most registered sales in 2016, and how each moved against the year before.

CommunitySalesvs priorTotal valueMedian pricePrice/sqftOff-plan
Business Bay2,931-6.8%AED 5.47BAED 1.20MAED 1,426/sqft59%
Marsa Dubai2,830-1.6%AED 6.08BAED 1.70MAED 1,531/sqft35%
Saih Shuaib 12,428+10016.7%AED 4.25BAED 1.33MAED 125/sqft0%
Jabal Ali First2,314+55.3%AED 2.96BAED 720KAED 1,009/sqft62%
Nadd Hessa2,048+18.2%AED 1.85BAED 620KAED 844/sqft50%
Al Thanyah Fifth2,037-18.8%AED 3.66BAED 1.07MAED 999/sqft12%
Al Warsan First2,026-16.1%AED 1.32BAED 428KAED 706/sqft4%
Burj Khalifa2,003-8.6%AED 6.77BAED 2.51MAED 2,312/sqft66%
Al Barsha South Fourth1,985-6.8%AED 3.42BAED 720KAED 890/sqft53%
Al Hebiah Fourth1,876-29.9%AED 3.45BAED 680KAED 965/sqft40%
Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid1,535+210.1%AED 5.59BAED 2.77MAED 888/sqft63%
Al Yelayiss 21,345-23.8%AED 1.30BAED 879KAED 903/sqft100%
Me'Aisem First1,219+21.3%AED 1.82BAED 660KAED 965/sqft40%
Palm Jumeirah1,028-25.5%AED 4.54BAED 2.70MAED 1,631/sqft35%
Al Yufrah 31,018+109.0%AED 1.41BAED 1.45MAED 842/sqft0%

Where the money went

Ranked by total registered value rather than count — a different list, and the one that shows where capital actually landed.

CommunityValueSales
Burj KhalifaAED 6.77B2,003
Marsa DubaiAED 6.08B2,830
Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin RashidAED 5.59B1,535
Business BayAED 5.47B2,931
Palm JumeirahAED 4.54B1,028
Saih Shuaib 1AED 4.25B2,428
Al Thanyah FifthAED 3.66B2,037
Al Hebiah FourthAED 3.45B1,876
Al Barsha South FourthAED 3.42B1,985
Jabal Ali FirstAED 2.96B2,314

Biggest movers

Change in registered sales against the previous year. Limited to communities with at least 50 sales in both — below that a swing is noise.

CommunitySalesChange
Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid1,535+210.1%
Madinat Al Mataar216+208.6%
Dubai Investment Park Second561+114.1%
Al Yufrah 31,018+109.0%
Al Merkadh103-75.1%
Al Hebiah Third610-70.3%
Dubai Investment Park First694+68.4%
Nad Al Shiba First475+63.8%
Al Hebiah Second181-58.7%
Al Goze Fourth372-58.5%

The largest sales of 2016

Each row links to its own register record, so any figure in this report can be traced to the transactions behind it.

Registered property transactions from the Dubai Land Department
DateCommunityProject / buildingTypeBedsSizePrice/sqftPrice
8 Nov 2016Al Hebiah Fourth—LandExisting PropertiesNot specified17,227,688 sqftAED 52/sqftAED 900,000,000
8 Nov 2016Al Hebiah Fourth—TILAL AL GHAFLandExisting PropertiesNot specified14,356,380 sqftAED 52/sqftAED 750,000,000
13 Apr 2016Wadi Al Safa 4—LandExisting PropertiesNot specified7,934,477 sqftAED 91/sqftAED 722,038,146
24 Mar 2016World IslandsTHE HEART OF EUROPE 2The WorldBuildingExisting PropertiesNot specified2,291,419 sqftAED 170/sqftAED 390,064,800
8 Jun 2016Saih Shuaib 1—LandExisting PropertiesNot specified3,547,997 sqftAED 110/sqftAED 390,000,000
1 Nov 2016Trade Center Second—BuildingExisting PropertiesNot specified10,000 sqftAED 38,500/sqftAED 385,000,000
12 Oct 2016Al Barshaa South Second—BuildingExisting PropertiesNot specified931,745 sqftAED 378/sqftAED 352,418,503
25 Apr 2016Nad Al Shiba First—Meydan Racecourse CommunityBuildingExisting PropertiesNot specified329,057 sqftAED 1,067/sqftAED 350,991,967
29 Aug 2016Al Rowaiyah First—Dubai International Academic CityLandExisting PropertiesNot specified642,720 sqftAED 450/sqftAED 289,224,000
23 Aug 2016Trade Center First—BuildingExisting PropertiesNot specified12,500 sqftAED 21,600/sqftAED 270,000,000

Source: Dubai Land Department open data, retrieved from the Digital Dubai data.dubai platform. Figures cover registered transactions and Ejari-registered tenancy contracts, and are statistical summaries of public record — not a valuation of any individual property. Registration data can be amended or backdated by the source after first publication.