Dubai’s real estate market experienced unprecedented growth in May, with a surge in both transaction volume and value, reflecting heightened investor confidence and laying the groundwork for increased adoption of property tokenization.
Data from Property Finder revealed that total real estate sales hit 66.8 billion dirhams (approximately $18.2 billion) across 18,700 transactions.
This marks a 44% year-on-year jump in transaction value and a 6% rise in sales volume.
The market’s momentum was fueled by gains in both primary and secondary sectors.
Primary sales skyrocketed by 314% in value compared to May 2024, while secondary sales saw a 21% increase.
This performance aligns with Dubai’s broader vision of digital innovation in real estate, particularly through tokenization — the process of converting property assets into blockchain-based digital tokens.
Scott Thiel, co-founder and CEO of real-world asset platform Tokinvest, emphasized the significance of this milestone.
“It reinforces what we already knew, Dubai is becoming one of the most active and attractive real estate markets globally,” he said.
“When you see 60 billion dirhams in transactions in a single month, it’s a strong signal that the market is liquid, dynamic and ready for innovation.”
Thiel views tokenization not as a future concept, but a present-day movement gaining traction.
He explained that the transaction volume creates an ideal foundation for fractional property investment, offering smaller, accessible ownership stakes to both local and global investors.
“Tokenisation won’t just accompany the next record, we believe, it will help drive it,” Thiel added.
Regulators and Industry Leaders Back Tokenization
The market’s record-breaking month coincided with notable moves by industry players and regulators to embrace blockchain-driven real estate solutions.
On May 1, the MultiBank Group, real estate firm MAG, and blockchain company Mavryk signed a $3 billion agreement to tokenize luxury real estate projects on a regulated marketplace.
Later in the month, on May 19, Dubai’s crypto regulator VARA updated its guidelines to include a framework for real-world asset tokenization.
Legal expert Irina Heaver noted that these rules give issuers and exchanges a clear roadmap for launching and trading tokenized property assets.
Further reinforcing this trend, on May 25, three prominent institutions — the Dubai Land Department, the Central Bank of the UAE, and the Dubai Future Foundation — launched a regional tokenized real estate initiative.
The project introduces a platform where investors can buy fractional shares in move-in-ready properties throughout Dubai.
These developments suggest that the city is not just open to innovation but is actively pursuing the integration of blockchain into its real estate infrastructure.