CEO of property firm Damac expresses concerns over 'expensive' Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai's property scene is showing no sign of cooling off, as 2024 is on track to be another record year in terms of sales figures and property values, according to local real estate firms.

Increasing demand for property, especially in the luxury space, is boosting prices not just of homes, but of everything else in the city — just as the United Arab Emirates is expected to emerge as the world's top wealth magnet for the third consecutive year.

For Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Dubai property giant Damac, that spells both good and bad news.

"What concerns me a little bit in Dubai is that [it's] becoming an expensive city, and I've said this in the past, that Dubai [is] going to be [an] expensive city. Because whenever there is so much demand, and especially when talented people, average people are coming, they create more demand," Sajwani told CNBC's Dan Murphy from Riyadh on Tuesday.

"So today, to get a seat in a school is difficult ... and of course, the business is going to raise prices, and inflation [is] going to be high, so Dubai is going to be an expensive city," the chairman said. "And I hope [the] government find ways and means. And it's not easy to find ways and means when there is a continuous influx of people to the city."

The latest Dubai property market numbers tell a story of burgeoning demand. In July of 2024, property sales reached 49.6 billion dirhams ($13.5 billion), a 31.63% increase from the same period in 2023, according to locally-based brokerage firm Elite Merit Real Estate.

"The first half of 2024 alone saw over 43,000 property transactions valued at approximately AED122.9 billion, marking a 30% increase from the previous year," the firm's report released on Sept. 10 wrote,