Dubai real estate market is on track to reach AED300 billion ($81.69 billion) in sales this year, thanks to a significant rise of 62% in the number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) residing in Dubai from 2012 to 2022, according to Unique Properties, a prominent real estate agency.

The emirate houses over 68,400 HNWIs and with such individuals increasingly flocking to the UAE, the country’s prime real estate segment is flourishing, it said.

Dubai has become a preferred destination for the world’s highly affluent to settle down largely due to the UAE’s deft handling of the pandemic and the country’s convenient geographic location. Tax advantages and favourable policies are also major contributing factors. Dubai’s real estate market is forecast to witness 46% growth in 2023.

Sitting atop the Middle East’s HNWI rankings, Dubai’s reputation is continuing to attract wealthy investors. Turmoil in different parts of the world has seen an influx of Europeans migrating to the UAE and this trend is expected to continue while a predicted uptick in Chinese investors is also set to further drive growth in the luxury property segment of Dubai.

The cosmopolitan city’s prime real estate market is on pace to see a growth of nearly 14% throughout the year, it said.

Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah and JBR are among the major districts spurring this growth. Increased demand for luxurious residences in these areas is seeing the price of high-end homes in Dubai spike from 6% to 7.9% in 2023 to represent the highest value increase worldwide. Transactions worth more than AED1 million are being observed daily, it said.

Arash Jalili, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unique Properties, commented: “Dubai’s real estate market has maintained its post-pandemic momentum and this has unlocked the potential to shatter last year’s historic growth with HNWIs consistently relocating to the UAE. Real estate transactions have already surpassed AED12 billion since the beginning of the year and with total property transactions in April increasing by more than 16% compared to the same period last year, the emirate remains on an upward trajectory.”

According to the most recent data, total property transactions in April stood at 7,615 and real estate prices increased by an annual average 14.5% with the off-plan market spearheading this growth.

Unique Properties, which has served the real estate market for the past 15 years, continues to facilitate several transactions across Dubai’s residential off-plan segment.