A record 54 sales of Dubai homes valued more than $10 million and above was made during the third quarter of the year, in a new sign of recovery for the UAE’s real estate market. Residential property values in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to UK-based consultant Knight Frank, have expanded at their “fastest pace since 2015,” referring to data from the same period. “The market is roaring back to life,” Faisal Durrani, the consultancy firm’s head of Middle East research. He said real estate confidence in the UAE is driven by how the government controlled COVID-19, as well as the excitement around the Dubai Expo that opens in October. “The UAE’s decisive, rapid and world leading response to the pandemic has caught the attention of the world’s wealthy who continue to flock to Dubai, snapping up the most expensive homes,” Durrani explained. Villas in Dubai led the price surge - up by 5 percent in the same period and nearly 17 percent higher than they were at this time last year. “Indeed, the number of $10 million plus homes sold currently stands at 54, smashing the previous record of 31, set back in 2015 – and there’s still three months left to run this year,” the Knight Frank consultant said. Prime locations such as Palm Jumeirah and Emirates Hills accounted for nearly 75 percent of the home sales, but new submarkets are emerging, Duranni said. “It was only a matter of time before the ‘halo-effect’ from Downtown Dubai spilled over to surrounding markets, highlighting that not only is Dubai’s super prime market expanding, but it is also maturing,” he explained. Residential values in Abu Dhabi are also on the rise - 2 percent higher than they were a year ago, also led by villas at 3.1 percent increase. Apartment prices grew 1.8 percent. Home buyers were interested to get bigger homes, according to Knight Frank, reflected by rapid off-plan villa sales in the UAE capital.