The six-month Dubai Expo kicks out on Oct. 1 and is expected to keep the city's booming luxury-home market alight.
The high-end housing sector in Dubai is thriving on its own. According to analysts, Expo 2020 will be the icing on the cake. The event will begin on October 1 after being postponed from its initial start date of October 20, 2020, owing to the coronavirus epidemic.
The price of homes in Dubai will finally bottom out in the midst of the pandemic in 2020, according to a new report. Prices have been declining since 2014 when the price of oil collapsed and tightened the purse strings of some of the city's wealthiest homebuyers.
However, following the trough, the high-end real estate market, in particular, reached a tipping point.
According to Cleator Properties chief executive Andrew Cleator, the more affluent began arriving in the emirate seeking a higher standard of life after extended lockdowns in their own nations.
The relatively low price per square foot of homes in the emirate when compared to other major cities around the world also contributes to the emirate's appeal, and as a result, "demand soon started to outstrip supply, which eventually caused the current boom we are witnessing in the luxury sector," Mr. Cleator added.
Since November, prices in Dubai have risen 16.2 percent. According to Property Monitor's data, August's increase of 1.6 percent over July represented the tenth straight month of advances.
The number of homes changing ownership has significantly grown. In Dubai, there were around 5,800 transactions last month, the highest number since December 2013, up 30.1 percent on a monthly basis and 135.6 percent from the previous August.
According to the report, there have been 37,735 sales so far this year, and with four months left, Dubai is on track "to equal, or maybe surpass, transaction levels last seen in the peak years of 2013 and 2014."
The high-end housing market has been on a tear, with a string of deals around the AED 100 million (US$27.2 million) mark, including a custom mansion on the man-made Palm Jumeirah that sold for AED 111.25 million in March and a Zen-like home in Dubai Hills Estate that sold for slightly more than AED 100 million in August.
The Expo will be the first world's fair to take place in the Middle East. Nearly 200 countries intend to populate the 4.4-kilometer property, which will include its own Metro station. Organizers are still hoping to meet their pre-pandemic attendance target of 25 million guests.
Apartment sales are projected to rise as developers sell completed and off-the-plan property to Expo attendees. Apartments, in particular, are expected to gain from the flood of international visitors, according to Mr. Jochinke. With the approach of the world fair, the window of opportunity for apartments may be closing.
Source: Mansion Global
