Palm Jumeirah tops the list of prime residential property buyers this year.

Palm Jumeirah dominates the list of the most popular prime residential area for property buyers, with seven out of 10 transactions in the first half of 2021 involving the tree-shaped island, according to an analysis by Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty.

The first four highest-paid transactions took place for Palm Jumeirah properties ranging between Dh119.5 million to Dh89.18 million. The fifth costliest transaction was made for a villa on Bulgari Resort on Jumeirah Bay Island for Dh87.5 million.

The sixth transaction also involved a Dh81-million Palm Jumeirah villa followed by a Dh72.38 million transaction for a property located in Emirates Hills.

The eighth and ninth most expensive transactions were also signed for two Palm villas while the 10th costliest villa was sold for Dh68 million in Emirates Hills.

The study covered high-end areas such as Al Barari, Arabian Ranches, Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Emirates Living, Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Mohammed bin Rashid City, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Lake Towers, and Palm Jumeirah.

“The post-Covid-19 resilience of UAE’s economy is attracting immense wealth from across the world and especially from Europe, England and Americas. This exponential growth in high-net-worth end-user buyers is here to stay and it will increase the demand for luxury sector properties through 2021 to next year,” said Chris Whitehead, managing partner of Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty.

In total, 681 apartments and 818 villas were transacted in Q2 2021 in the Dubai prime residential market at a sales volume of Dh16.7 billion, an increase of 43.8 per cent in sales volume. A strong surge in buyer activity resulted in a nominal 1.4 per cent increase in prices.

The top five areas in terms of sales volume in Q2 were Palm Jumeirah (Dh4.2 billion), MBR City (Dh2.43 billion), Downtown (Dh2.41 billion), Dubai Marina (Dh1.58 billion) and Emirates Living (Dh1.43 billion).

The prime villa market remained stable with an average price of Dh8.04 million in Q2, about 1.65 per cent lower than the previous quarter. However, the sales volume for prime villas in Dubai at Dh5.9 billion have increased by over 48 per cent from the previous quarter, indicating a keen buyer interest in villas continuing from last year and Q1.

For apartments in the prime areas, there was a sales volume surge of 25 per cent to Dh8.2 billion. The average prime apartment now costs approximately Dh2.1 million.