ALBAWABA – The main United Arab Emirates (UAE) Dubai stock index soared to the highest level since August 2015, marking an eight-year high on gains driven strongly by real estate stocks.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed on a 2.3 percent rise on Monday, extending a year to date of growth, according to Arabian Business.
Stocks of Emaar Properties PJSC and Emaar Development PJSC contributed the largest the Dubai index’s gains, along with Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, the city’s biggest bank, Bloomberg reported.
The Dubai real estate sector recorded AED30.41 billion ($8.3 billion) in transactions in June 2023, according to a Property Finder report.
Overall, the MENA property portal cited 10,419 real estate transactions in Dubai, up 17.78 percent from June 2022's 8,846.
Two factors played into the surge in the Dubai stocks index, Dahlia Sabaayon, senior investment analyst at Al Dhabi Capital, told Bloomberg.
The market benefited greatly from the recent spate of new listings “and a significant re-rating of the real estate names,” she said.
“Real estate data continues to deliver strong momentum, helping names like Emaar Development, which has also benefited from the reinstatement of its dividend,” the analyst underlined.
The real estate sector in Dubai comprises more than a third of the emirate’s local consumer price index, BNN Bloomberg underlined.
Having emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic as an investment haven and a magnet for wealth and tourism, Dubai’s economy is set to grow 3 percent in 2023, according to S&P Global Ratings.
Dubai achieved as estimated 5 percent growth rate in 2022 and 6.2 percent in 2021.
Contrary to the trend of falling prices elsewhere, Dubai’s real estate has actually seen a rise in prices on “strong demand”, as described by S&P Global Ratings.
