Dubai South Property Sales Surge 27% in 2025: ANAROCK Report

PROPERTY PULSE

Dubai: Dubai South’s residential property market has surpassed its full-year 2025 sales volume in just eight months of 2026, with transactions reaching 12,428 between January and August, according to ANAROCK’s Dubai South Residential Micro-Market Report released in September 2026. This indicates a 27% increase over the 9,788 transactions recorded during the whole of 2025,

The value of residential sales reached AED 15.9 billion during the first eight months of 2026, equivalent to 81% of the AED 19.6 billion recorded in 2025.

The report, which tracks market activity from 2020 to August 2026, highlights the growing importance of Dubai South as a residential property market. The longer-term expansion has been substantial.

Annual residential sales value increased from AED 720 million in 2020 to AED 19.6 billion in 2025, nearly 27 times the 2020 level. The number of homes transacted also rose from 672 to 9,788 over the same period, increasing every full year covered by the report.

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Smaller Homes Drive Transactions

A significant change in the Dubai South market is the growing preference for smaller apartments. Studios accounted for 45% of residential transactions in January–August 2026, compared with 19.5% in 2025. One-bedroom homes contributed another 31%, taking their combined share to approximately 76%. Apartments accounted for 94.5% of residential sales volume during the eight months, compared with 31% in 2020.

Aayush Puri, CEO – Residential, Middle East and CEO – ANAROCK Channel Partners, said Dubai South had already exceeded its full-year 2025 residential sales volume in eight months. He noted that studios and one-bedroom apartments were becoming the main drivers of activity, broadening the market’s appeal beyond larger homes.

Higher Per Sq Ft Prices, Lower Ticket Sizes

The changing mix of homes is also influencing purchase budgets. The average residential price increased from AED 650 per sq. ft. in 2020 to AED 1,656 per sq. ft. in January–August 2026. However, the average transaction value per home declined to AED 1.28 million from its peak of AED 2.57 million in 2023.

According to ANAROCK, this divergence reflects the growing share of smaller homes rather than a broad-based correction in property prices.

Puri said a lower average purchase value should not be interpreted as a market-wide price decline, as buyers were increasingly purchasing smaller units even while average prices per square foot continued to rise.

Off-plan properties remained dominant, accounting for 94% of residential transaction volume in January–August 2026, compared with 73% in 2020. The report describes the market as being in a launch-and-absorption phase, with the ready and secondary segments yet to mature.

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Infrastructure & Rental Demand Support Growth

Dubai South is a 145-sq.-km master-planned development centred around Al Maktoum International Airport. The airport’s AED 128 billion expansion was approved in April 2024, with an ultimate design capacity of 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually. Its first operational phase is targeted for 2032.

The master plan for Dubai South envisages accommodating approximately one million residents and 500,000 jobs at full development.

Rental activity has expanded alongside residential sales. Average annual rent rose from AED 34,534 in 2020 to AED 82,063 in January–August 2026, while rental transaction volume increased fourfold from its 2020 level. Apartments recorded an indicative gross rental yield of 4.3% in 2025, before service charges, vacancy and transaction costs. Overall gross rental yield stood at 3.9%, compared with 3.4% for townhouses and 3% for villas.

Land transactions also point to continued development activity. Commercial transaction value increased from AED 60 million in 2020 to AED 5.46 billion in 2025, with land accounting for 97% of the 2025 total. Developers purchased a further AED 2 billion worth of land during the first eight months of 2026, indicating a continuing pipeline of potential project launches.

The latest figures underline Dubai South’s transition into a high-volume residential market, supported by smaller apartments, off-plan sales, rental demand and planned infrastructure expansion. The extent to which this momentum continues will depend on future project supply, buyer demand and the development of the wider airport-led economic corridor.

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