Espace Real Estate has announced its strong expansion plans in Dubai's vibrant real estate sector, investing US$4,000,000 in additional office space for 2023.

The leading real estate brokerage is cultivating its strong presence in the city to meet the growing market expectations in the flat, freehold villa, off-plan and new project sectors.

Espace Real Estate ended 2022 with impressive results, achieving growth of over 35%, exceeding its target of 25% for the year. The award-winning brokerage is confident of achieving another 25% growth target in 2023 and expects the Dubai property market to remain buoyant.

As the market leader in many of Dubai's freehold communities, Espace Real Estate intends to expand more meaningfully into off-plan and new projects.Espace Real Estate will strengthen its world-class offering by expanding its off-plan and new projects division.

With an impressive team of over 170 employees, the company expects to create 144 new jobs in 2023 to drive its ambitious expansion plans.

With property prices reaching pre-pandemic levels in 2022, Dubai's real estate sector is experiencing a boom with demand for flats and freehold villas showing no signs of slowing down.

According to a recent report by Property Monitor, the off-plan market reached an all-time high with 7,161 units coming onto the market for sale in November 2022 alone, with a total sales value of a staggering US$28.2 billion. The condominium segment contributed 63.7 per cent of total sales, while the freehold villa and townhouse segments accounted for 22.8 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively.

In addition, new projects added 44,000 units with a total sales value of approximately US$36 billion. However, Lyon commented, "While it is true that property prices have reached their previous peak in real terms, we still have a way to go when adjusted for inflation."

Espace Real Estate recorded record-breaking transactions worth billions of dirhams involving flats, villas and townhouses, as well as a number of prestigious off-plan projects. Looking ahead, the market-leading brokerage believes that the short-term rental segment will struggle to outpace returns in the long-term rental market, a change from the status quo of recent years. The number of properties in the short-term rental market has increased significantly, which has prevented significant growth in average daily rents. In the long term rental market, on the other hand, supply is very tight and rental prices have risen significantly in the first few months, putting pressure on the short term market.

With the shift in the national agenda towards strengthening the non-oil sector, coupled with the introduction of new visa legislation such as the Golden Visa, the five-year Green Visa, the Freelancer Visa and the one-year residency permit for remote workers; Dubai has increasingly become an attractive residential destination offering a vibrant lifestyle, business opportunities and low crime rates compared to other developed cities around the world which also have a higher cost of living and tax benefits.

As Dubai's population continues to grow, Espace Real Estate recorded a significant increase in buyer registrations in 2022, with 62% of buyers purchasing properties through mortgage payments.

With rental prices continuing to rise and gross yields reaching 6.5%, there are significant financial benefits to be gained by purchasing a similar property rather than renting the same one. The leading real estate brokerage highlights that as prices in the rental market continue to soar, Dubai residents will have an incentive to become property owners rather than renters.

In addition, the very strong Dubai economy and high personal savings rate, coupled with easy access to mortgages, are expected to make this even more of a reality. espace Real Estate highlights that these strong market fundamentals have led to increased demand from foreign investors looking to allocate their capital to the Dubai residential sector.