Dubailand has climbed to the top position on the list of most popular residential areas in Dubai, an analysis by ServiceMarket, the UAE’s leading marketplace for home services, has revealed. It’s a major shift in Dubai’s moving trends because an increasing number of people now seem to prefer newly developed suburbs compared to highly populated established areas like Dubai Marina and Downtown. Based on thousands of residential moving requests placed through the website in 2017, this annual moving trends report highlights neighbourhoods with highest influx of residents and draws comparisons with earlier studies to find out how the moving-in and moving-out activity has shifted recently.
Where did most people move to in 2017?
With Dubailand emerging as the most popular residential area, Dubai Marina, which had held the top position during the two previous years, has been pushed to the second place. While Dubai Marina is densely-populated and more developed, Dubailand offers more affordable rents. These two areas are followed by Downtown, Dubai Silicon Oasis, and JVC/JVT.
| Area | % of Move-In Requests on ServiceMarket in 2017 |
| Dubailand | 9.09% |
| Dubai Marina/JBR | 8.34% |
| Business Bay/DIFC/Downtown | 7.45% |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 6.17% |
| JVC/JVT | 5.70% |
| Jebel Ali* | 4.70% |
| Al Barsha | 4.54% |
| Tecom/Greens/Views | 4.48% |
| JLT | 3.93% |
| Motor City/Sports City | 3.74% |
And where did most people move from?
It’s not surprising that popular areas like Dubai Marina and Downtown also see a lot of moving-out activity since they have more residential towers and apartments compared to other areas, and consequently see a higher turnover. We need to keep in mind that a lot of people who move out of a apartment in these areas move to another house in the same area. However, Dubai Marina/JBR and Downtown witnessed more moving-out activity compared to moving-in activity, and as a result lost a significant number of residents in 2017. On the other hand, Dubailand experienced more moving-in activity.
| Area | % of Move-Out Requests on ServiceMarket in 2017 |
| Dubai Marina/JBR | 10.40% |
| Business Bay/DIFC/Downtown | 10.01% |
| JLT | 5.46% |
| Tecom/Greens/Views | 5.28% |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 4.86% |
| Al Barsha | 4.57% |
| JVC/JVT | 4.22% |
| Jebel Ali | 4.16% |
| Mirdiff | 3.73% |
| Dubailand | 3.62% |
How have moving trends changed since 2016?
The influx of residents to Dubai Marina/JBR was almost as much as that of Dubailand and Downtown combined in 2016. But this year, Dubailand has overtaken Dubai Marina, and Downtown is not far behind. Quickly gaining popularity in the region, Dubai Silicon Oasis has also risen from the seventh to the fourth position in just a year.
| Area | % of Move-In Requests on ServiceMarket in 2016 |
| Dubai Marina/JBR | 12.80% |
| Dubailand | 7.30% |
| Downtown Dubai/DIFC/Business Bay | 6.40% |
| Jumeirah Village/Jumeirah Village Circle/Jumeirah Village Triangle | 6.30% |
| Jumeirah/Al Wasl/Umm Suqeim | 6.20% |
| Dubai Sports City/Motor City | 5.00% |
| JLT | 4.40% |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 4.30% |
| Jebel Ali/Jebel Ali Village/Discovery Gardens/The Gardens | 4.00% |
| Emirates Hills/Lakes/Meadows/Springs | 3.80% |
Reasons behind some of these trends:
Established areas: Dubai Marina and some of the other densely-populated areas have remained popular for many years because of the sheer volume of residential buildings available there. In addition, they have a greater variety of shopping malls, restaurants and other facilities. But due to relatively higher rents and more traffic, such areas are quickly losing their residents to newer, more affordable areas like Dubailand.
Newly developed areas: The most likely explanation for why suburbs like Dubailand and Dubai Silicon Oasis are overtaking developed areas in popularity is that residents have to face lower rents, there’s less traffic and facilities like malls, schools, and theme parks are quickly emerging. What’s more, freehold properties in these areas are available at much lower prices.
- Read more: Top 5 Most Affordable Communities in Dubai
Here are some other interesting trends noticed during the year:
- Over 58% of the influx of residents occured in just 10 areas of Dubai.
- Dubai Marina and Downtown have been on the list of the top 5 most popular areas for three consecutive years.
- A high number of requests for moving in as well as moving out are received from both of these densely-populated areas because a lot of units are available there.
- Around a third (30-35%) of the residents move from one home to another in the same area.
- After Dubailand, the next ambitious area seems to be Dubai Silicon Oasis, which is gaining popularity rapidly.
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By Obed Suhail, Senior Writer, ServiceMarket.com
