The demand to buy two-bedroom apartments is higher than one-bedroom units among investors and end-users in Dubai as the market witnesses the emergence of new consumer preferences, such as a growing incline towards ownership and the inflow of more families to make their second home, Invest-Gate reports.

According to Property Finder’s data for March 2023, around 59.7% of people who intend to own property in Dubai are looking for an apartment, while 40.3% are interested in villas/townhouses.

The study revealed an increase in the percentage of people looking for apartments, rising from 57.2% in March 2022 to 59.7% last month.

Meanwhile, the number of people searching for villas and townhouses decreased by 2.5%, dropping from 42.8% to 40.3%. Amongst home seekers, the most commonly searched apartment size was two bedrooms, accounting for 34%, followed by one-bedroom apartments at 32%.

Scott Bond, country manager at Property Finder, says: “We have seen the emergence of new consumer preferences, such as a growing incline towards ownership, with equally sustained growth within the rental market. We continue to observe and deliver upon the nation’s fast-evolving property sector with a positive outlook for the coming months,” he said.

Imran Farooq, CEO of Samana Developers, notes that although apartments remain in demand for various reasons, villas have their niche of buyers looking for luxury, privacy and space as prime reasons.

Notably, for the rental segment, Property Finder’s data showed that 79.8% of tenants search for apartments, and 20.2% look for villas/townhouses in the rental segment.

Around 63.8% of the tenants looking for apartments for a more extended stay prefer furnished properties, while 34.4% were searching for unfurnished apartments. Unlike the tenants who can afford to rent a villa/townhouse, approximately 52.1% were looking for unfurnished units, while 46.8% were looking for furnished villas/townhouses.