Ramadan and real estate: How is Dubai’s property market affected?

The holy month of Ramadan affects the city of Dubai in many ways, but have you ever stopped to consider if and how it might have an impact on Dubai’s property market?

Well, if you’re interested - the answer is yes it does, and the ‘how’ might just surprise you.

Let’s break it down:

Is Ramadan a good time to invest in Dubai’s property market?

You wouldn’t be the only one to assume that the Dubai property market slows down during the holy month of Ramadan, with reduced working hours, public holidays, religious celebrations and overall, a change in day-to-day life here.

The reality?

Ramadan is a great time to invest in property, and although we’ve only got two weeks left, there’s still time to make the most of this unique time of the year.

Let us bust some misconceptions:

A lot of people travel during Ramadan!

Ramadan typically falls over spring break and summer vacation, so it’s quite common for school and university holidays to overlap.

What normally happens during this period? People travel, right? Wrong!

On a whole, throughout the holy month of Ramadan (Eid not included) Dubai’s residents stay put, and soak in the traditions, practices and celebrations that surround the city.

Did you know, 93% of muslims fast throughout Ramadan? During this time, those who are practising typically like to stay close to home and their families to be as comfortable as possible.

With reduced working hours also implemented for many for this reason, this means people are in the city and have more time on their hands than normal!

What happens to property prices during Ramadan?

We can’t expect any drastic offers or reductions on property prices.

However there are a few Dubai property developers who are known to be generous to potential buyers with exclusive offers.

These have included wavering Dubai Land Department fees or a three-year waiver on service charges on the property. This is a 25/75 offer where a buyer pays only 25% of the sale prior to moving in and then pays the further 75% over a three three-year period post completion.

Pretty decent right?

Do viewings stop, drop or roll?

As we mentioned before, with reduced working hours during Ramadan, most buyers and sellers have extra time on their hands and this translates into more time to attend viewings.

Don’t believe us? At Allsopp & Allsopp, we saw one of the highest number of buyers and tenant registrations during Ramadan 2022 with 5,368 viewings and are on track to beat the record this year.

More time to scroll…

In a recent study by social giant TikTok, 6 out 10 people increase their scrolling time by three hours during Ramadan!

When you think about this in relation to the real estate market that means, extra eyes on listings and extra time to explore property portals, book viewings and buy or rent property!

Don’t just take our word for it…

The proof is in the pudding, last year our web traffic climbed on average 198% with unique web page views increasing by 187%.

The property market in Dubai also saw a 13% increase in rental transactions and a 4.5% increase in sales transactions!

All in all, Ramadan looks like a pretty good time for the property market right?