Dubai property price rises seen slowing further in 2023

Prices are seen rising by about five per cent this year, after climbing 11 per cent in 2022, which itself was a slowdown from a 21 oer cent increase in 2021, Richard Waind, group managing director of Betterhomes

Residential property prices in Dubai are expected to rise at a slower pace in 2023 after a record year that saw a more than 60 per cent increase in total units sold, according to one of the city’s biggest real estate consultancies.

Prices are seen rising by about five per cent this year, after climbing 11 per cent in 2022, which itself was a slowdown from a 21 oer cent increase in 2021, Richard Waind, group managing director of Betterhomes, told Reuters.

“(Higher) interest rates haven’t removed the underlying demand. But they are certainly having an impact on people’s willingness and ability to pay more for properties,” Waind said, though he said the market has taken rising rates and a strong dollar “in their stride so far”.

“We’re obviously less exposed to interest rates here through the prevalence of cash purchases. So, in the UK, US, cash purchases are somewhere between 20 and 40 per cent of all transactions. Over here, it’s roughly 70 per cent,” he added.

Dubai’s property sector surged in 2020 as it opened up again during the pandemic before most major cities and as rich buyers snapped up luxury units, boosting a sector that had been sluggish since the 2014-15 oil price crash.