Dubai prime property 2022–2024: how the city became the world’s busiest $10m home market
Knight Frank counted 219 Dubai home sales above $10m in 2022, 434 in 2023 and a record 435 in 2024 (about $7bn). In the first half of 2023 Dubai overtook New York, Hong Kong and London. How a shortage of supply made Palm Jumeirah the core of the market — the background to 2025–2026.
In 2020 Dubai recorded about thirty home sales above $10m. Between 2022 and 2024 it became the largest market in the world for such sales, ahead of London, New York and Hong Kong. This is the background piece: how Dubai's prime market was built before the records of 2025–2026, what the numbers were each year, and why the deciding factor turned out to be scarcity rather than demand.
Sales above $10m, year by year
| Year | Sales above $10m (Knight Frank) | What was happening |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 219 | wealthy buyers arriving after 2020 |
| 2023 | 434 | doubled; world number one at the half-year |
| 2024 | 435 (about $7bn) | a record on shrinking supply |
In the first half of 2023 Knight Frank counted 176 sales above $10m in Dubai, more than New York (125), Hong Kong (109) or London (99). In the fourth quarter of 2023 Dubai was again the largest market, with 108. Descriptions of Dubai as a "top-four" market are out of date for 2023–2024: by number of sales it was first.
Where the money went
In 2024 Palm Jumeirah produced 127 sales above $10m — 29% by number and about $2.3bn, a third of the value. Palm Jebel Ali came second by number with 36, almost all of it off-plan villas on an island with little yet built. By value Emirates Hills (about $515m), Jumeirah Bay Island, District One and Dubai Hills Estate followed at 6–7% each.
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The price record for a Dubai apartment was broken several times during 2023: a Bulgari Lighthouse penthouse on Jumeirah Bay Island at AED 410m, a Marsa Al Arab penthouse at AED 420m and a Como Residences penthouse on the Palm at AED 500m. In autumn 2023 Knight Frank had Jumeirah Bay Island as the most expensive prime submarket at about AED 7,545 per sq ft, ahead of Emirates Hills (AED 4,460) and Palm Jumeirah (AED 3,620). Prime values rose 15.9% over 2023.
The real driver: scarcity
Why did the number of sales grow faster than the market? Because there was almost nothing new to buy at the top. At the end of 2023 Knight Frank counted just 368 homes due in prime neighbourhoods before the end of 2025, 98% of them apartments — a handful of Palm projects including Serenia Living and Ellington Beach House, plus eight Bulgari Mansions. New ready villas on the Palm, in Emirates Hills and on Jumeirah Islands barely appeared.
By 2024 the shortage showed in listings: prime homes for sale fell 40% in a year, from 4,120 to 2,490, and listings above $10m in the fourth quarter were down 14% at 805. In that market a buyer competes on speed of decision rather than price, and a seller can afford to wait. The other side is that such homes cannot be valued like rental flats — there are no comparables and no predictable exit, as we set out in trophy property and why ROI does not apply.
What came next — the September 2026 status
The background ended in a new record: in 2025 Knight Frank counted 500 sales above $10m worth $9.05bn, and a further 296 in the first half of 2026, a half-year record. While the wider market corrected in 2026, the top end held up best, because the shortage of ready waterfront villas built into 2022–2024 has not gone away.
For the 2025–2026 figures by district and average ticket, see Dubai homes over $10 million: 500 sales in 2025 and a record 296 in the first half of 2026.
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