Dubai’s US$ 10 million+ homes market smashes records with US$ 2.6bn of sales in Q2

• Sales of US$ 10 million homes up 63% on the same period last year

• 37,000 Dubai homeowners have become ‘accidental millionaires’ thanks to rising property market

• Rising population and international HNWI buyers are fuelling demand

Dubai/UAE | 08 July 2025: Sales of US$ 10 million+ homes in Dubai hit an all-time high of US$ 2.6bn in the second quarter of 2025. The record performance, revealed in the latest research from global property consultancy Knight Frank, was 37% ahead of the US$ 1.9bn recorded in Q1 and an impressive 63% uplift on Q2 2024.

The total number of US$ 10 million+ sales during Q2 hit 143 – a 52% increase on Q2 2024 – including 22 transactions for more than US$ 25 million. Notably, for the first time since Q2 2023, apartments outpaced villas in the US$ 10 million+ segment, with 80 apartment sales, compared to 63 villas.

The Palm Jumeirah was once again the leading location for US$ 10 million+ sales, with 28 properties changing hands, while La Mer (23) and Downtown Dubai (16) rounded off the top three busiest US$ 10 million+ markets in the city.

Knight Frank’s Prime Index* for Dubai, which tracks values across 10 key luxury communities, averaged AED 3,850 psf in Q2 – 18% higher than Q2 2024 (AED 3,272 psf) yet virtually unchanged from Q1 2025. This indicates that rising sales volumes and healthy market activity, as opposed to cost inflation, underlie the growth in total sales value.

Faisal Durrani, Partner – Head of Research, MENA, said:  “The record sales in the luxury price bracket are in line with the findings of our latest Destination Dubai report, which highlights the sustained and rising demand among global and domestic high-net-worth individuals for homes in the emirate.

"The total value of all homes sold in Dubai has increased by an incredible 282% since 2020, and in 2024 it was once again the world’s busiest market for US$ 10 million+ homes, recording 435 sales in this exclusive price bracket and almost equalling the number of US$ 10 million+ home sales in London and New York combined. The city has retained this position during Q1 2025 as well.

"Separately, Dubai’s residential market continues to mature, as evidenced by the rise in the number of genuine end users and the decline in the number of homes being sold within 12-months of purchase from around 25% in 2008 to 4-5% today”.

ACCIDENTAL MILLIONAIRES

Knight Frank’s research, which tracks the price of every freehold home in the city, has also revealed the rising number of “property millionaires” across Dubai. At the start of Q2 2025, there were 110,000 residential units (out of 624,000 total sold units since 2002) valued above US$ 1 million, which equates to 17.7% of the total number of homes sold in the city. The combined value of these homes is estimated to be AED 994bn, or US$ 271bn.

About 19% of these US$ 1 million homes (21,000 units) are rented, indicating the size of Dubai’s luxury buy-to-let market. However, 37,000 are owned by “accidental millionaires” – purchasers who bought properties for less than US$ 1 million that are now worth more, solely due to price inflation.

Shehzad Jamal, Partner – Strategy & Consultancy, MENA, said: “The number of accidental millionaires in Dubai has increased by an average of 79.5% over the past three years. This suggests most homes are being held as primary residences, second homes, or long-term investments for capital gains, reflecting strong confidence in Dubai’s residential market among the wealthy. This also mirrors our own market experience where we have found the strongest level of demand for purchasing a home as a primary end user is amongst ultra-high-net-worth individuals.”

The Palm Jumeirah has Dubai’s highest concentration of US$ 1 million+ homes – 9,071 as at the start of Q2 2025, followed by Downtown (8,376) and Dubai Hills Estate (6,138). Collectively, the city’s top ten communities account for almost 47,000 such homes – almost 50% of “property millionaire” homes in Dubai.

SUPPLY GAP 

The rising popularity of Dubai as a place to live is opening further opportunities for investors and developers looking to target supply gaps. The disparity between supply and demand is best reflected in the fact that the city welcomed almost 170,000 new residents last year, while the total housing stock only rose by a little over 30,000 units.

Durrani said: “Our teams are today tracking in excess of 350,000 homes that are due to be completed by the end of 2029. Specific price and home size bands appear to be especially poorly catered for. For example, the number of homes available for sale in the US$ 10 million+ bracket fell by 39% last year, down from 4,119 to 2,493. At the same time, the number of homes available in the US$ 25 million+ bracket saw more than double the rate of decrease (85%), down from 583 to only 86 properties. There appears to be some rebalancing this year, with the more mainstream end of the market registering sharper falls in homes available to purchase.”