Number of buildings in urban areas of the Emirate of Dubai by type 2019

In 2019, there were just under 72 thousand investment villas in urban areas of the Emirate of Dubai, which were by far the most common type of buildings in the area. Meanwhile, the number of private villas amounted to approximately 40.6 thousand. In rural Dubai, the most common types of building that year were also investment and private villas, totaling respectively 5.9 thousand and 2.1 thousand buildings.

Real estate market on the recovery

After the 2014 oil crash and the global economy’s disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dubai’s real estate market finally started to show signs of recovery with the value of real estate transactions reaching just under 25 billion U.S. dollars as of the first quarter of 2021, reflecting an increase from the fourth quarter of 2020. The United Arab Emirates’ property sector in general and Dubai’s, in particular, would likely benefit tremendously from the pandemic-delayed Expo 2020 Dubai as the seven-billion U.S. dollars Expo continues to garner attention and investment from foreign investors. The infrastructure sector has also witnessed growth as the Expo stimulated residential and commercial development at the site, including luxury housing, roadways, shopping centers, hotels, and restaurants.

Upcoming trends in the housing market

In line with increasing housing demand in the entire Gulf Cooperation Council region, housing supply in Dubai is projected to increase to 743 thousand residential units by 2022. In the next few years, house rentals and residential sales in the city would likely rebound from record lows in 2020.