Up-and-coming areas in Dubai, by the numbers
We call an area up-and-coming when its ready villas are in the cheaper half per sqft of the areas we can measure, its prices rose over 3 years, and it sold at least as many in the last four quarters as in the same quarters 1 year earlier. Areas that pass are ranked by their yearly rise over 3 years.
For villas, 1 of 29 measured areas passes all three tests.
- Rank 1Abu Hail+3.9% a year +12.1% in total
- +10.6% over 1 year
- AED 598 per sqft · 42 sales, up from 40
How the 29 areas were narrowed down
- 29 areas had a published price change over 1 year
- 15 were in the cheaper half, at or below AED 1,444 per sqft
- 11 of those rose over 3 years
- 1 of those also sold at least as many villas as 1 year earlier
How this is measured
We start from the areas with a published price change over 1 year for ready villas, every size together. An area passes when its median price per sqft is at or below the middle area's, its price change over 3 years is above zero, and it kept at least as many sales in the last four quarters as in the same quarters 1 year earlier. Areas that pass are ranked by the yearly rate of their change over 3 years. We make a list only when at least 10 areas were measured. How we pick up-and-coming areas
What this does not tell you
- This is our rule, not a forecast. An area that passes it can still fall, and one that fails it can still rise.
- Price change compares medians of what sold, not the same properties resold.
- Sales under 269 sqft a bedroom are left out of every year compared. DLD records the sale of a share in a property that way, and many of them in the earlier years would make a rise look bigger than it was.
- Off-plan sales are left out, because their medians move with which projects launched.
These figures describe registered sales and rents. They are not advice on what to buy or rent.