Dubai continued to lead global cities in the sales of super-prime residential properties worth more than $10 million in the first half of this year, according to the consultancy Knight Frank.

The emirate, which has been attracting a growing number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), sold 95 residential properties with a price tag of more than $10 million in the second quarter and 92 in the first quarter of this year. As many as 320 such properties were sold in the 12 months to Q2 2023.

Residential sales above $10 million in the 12 cities covered by the Knight Frank Global Super-Prime Intelligence report totalled 422 in Q2 2023. This number was 11% below the 475 recorded in Q1 of this year and 13% below the 483 sales seen in Q2 2022.

Higher interest rates have impacted all levels of the global housing market, and the luxury segment is not immune. That said, sales in the 12-month period up to June of this year (totalling 1,638 globally) are still running well ahead of the levels seen pre-pandemic (1,009 in 2019), it said.

Despite the year-on-year decline in overall sales, four markets saw volumes rise, led by Dubai (up 79% between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023), Sydney (up 46%), Paris (up 17%), and Geneva (up 7%). The biggest declines over the year were seen in key US markets, led by Los Angeles (down 63%).

Dubai led the pack in the total value of sales with $1.5 billion. London and New York also saw sales above $1 billion. The total sales volumes for the quarter amounted to $7.3 billion across the 12 markets covered by the report.

Total sales in the 12 months up to June in all markets stood at just under $30 billion, down from the peak of $40.7 billion seen in 2021 but well ahead of the pre-pandemic figure of $18.6 billion in 2019.

The number of Dubai homes snapped up by property buyers was the highest during the second quarter, outpacing those in 11 other top markets, including New York, Paris, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Geneva, Miami, Orange County, Palm Beach, Singapore and Sydney.

“The biggest constraint across a majority of markets in the near term is supply – a lack of new development starts between 2020 and 2022 means a lean 2024 for new delivery pointing to rising competition for available stock which should act to put a floor under pricing,” the report said.

“Despite the slowdown, the market is still firing well above its pre-pandemic level.”

In its Destination Dubai report early this year, Knight Frank said global HNWIs are expected to spend $2.5 billion on properties in Dubai this year.