RIYADH: Dubai witnessed a 13.2 percent year-on-year slowdown in residential transactions during November despite a record-breaking 2023, a recent report stated. In its latest report, real estate services and investment firm CBRE Middle East highlighted that the 9,034 deals came amid a 26.4 percent drop in off-plan transactions, although there was a 5.1 percent yearly growth in secondary market sales. The Dubai Residential Market Snapshot report showed that this drop in November came after transactions during the first 11 months of the year reached an all-time high of 112,356. Taimur Khan, head of research MENA at CBRE in Dubai, said this figure was a 22.5 percent rise on the total transactions throughout 2022. He added: “The 2023 total has been bolstered by large portfolio transactions and delayed registrations in the last couple of months; however, we expect the number of transactions to continue to recede in the coming months.” Khan continued: “This is expected to be largely underpinned by decreasing levels of off-plan sales, understandably so with developers looking to deliver the somewhat significant quantum of recently launched projects. In turn, we expect this slowdown in transaction volume to continue to support moderation in the rate of price and rental growth.” The report further highlighted that Dubai’s residential market has experienced a slight moderation in price growth, with average prices up by 18.9 percent year-on-year, down from 19.1 percent a month earlier. Furthermore, from November 2022 to November 2023, average apartment prices increased by 18.3 percent and average villa prices by 22.2 percent. As of November 2023, average apartment prices reached 14,789.60 dirhams ($4027.12) per sq. meter, and average villa prices reached 18,072.59 dirhams per sq. meter. These average apartment sales rates are still 7.7 percent below the record highs registered in 2014, although several submarkets have surpassed their comparable 2014 figures. The average villa sales rates are currently 16.2 percent above the 2014 levels. Moreover, Jumeirah registered the highest sales rate per sq. meter in the apartment segment of the market at 26,877.46 dirhams, while Palm Jumeirah registered the highest sales rate per sq. meter in the villa segment of the market at 56,155.27 dirhams. In the rental market, Dubai witnessed a moderation in the rate of growth, as in the 12 months to November 2023, average residential rents in Dubai grew by 19.2 percent, down from 19.7 percent a month earlier. Over the same period, average apartment and villa rents increased by 19.6 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively. The average annual apartment and villa rents reached 111,622 dirhams and 324,835 dirhams, respectively. The highest average annual apartment and villa rents were respectively seen in Palm Jumeirah, with average rents reaching 258,335 dirhams, and in Al-Barari, with average rents reaching 1.2 million dirhams.