{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "language": "en",
  "direct_answer": "Separate transaction and registration filters, count and value, and exact date windows before relying on a market chart.",
  "document_markdown": "# Reading Dubai property-market comparisons: what does “transactions increased” actually mean?\n\nA pandemic-era chart can help you ask better questions about a property pitch. It cannot, by itself, tell you what caused a change or whether an off-plan unit is worth its asking price. This is a guide to checking the comparison, not a reconstruction of Dubai's COVID-era market or a forecast.\n\n## First separate the transaction from the property\n\nOn the Dubai Land Department's Real Estate Data page, **Transaction Type** and **Registration type** are separate filters. The transaction filter offers Sales, Mortgages and Gifts; the registration filter offers Ready and Off Plan, alongside All. These are the options on this particular page, not a claim that every Dubai dataset uses an identical classification.[1]\n\nThat distinction changes the question to ask a broker. If a presentation says “transactions rose”, ask: **sales only, or a broader transaction selection? Ready, Off Plan, or both?** A comparison of all transactions is not an off-plan-sales comparison merely because it appears in an off-plan brochure.\n\nThe page also distinguishes Usage, Area and Property Type. Its property-type options include Land, Building and Unit.[1] Before using a citywide headline to support an apartment purchase, ask for a comparison that identifies the relevant location and property selection. Keep the same selection in both periods, or disclose the difference rather than treating the results as like-for-like.\n\n## Count and value answer different questions\n\nDLD's transaction table lists Transaction Number, Amount, Transaction Size (sq.m), Property Size (sq.m), No. of Buyer and No. of Seller as separate fields.[1] The label Transaction Number does not establish an aggregate transaction count. This retained interface does not establish that field's precise definition or the currency of Amount; check the relevant documentation before calculating from exported data.\n\nFor a chart supplied by someone else, distinguish a stated transaction count from a stated total monetary value. A count needs a counting and deduplication method; a total value needs a currency and aggregation method. A higher total does not establish that comparable apartments became more expensive: the number or mix of records could have changed. Nor does a count alone establish the number of unique homes or unique buyers.\n\nFor any percentage, ask for the named denominator: **percentage of which records, in which period, under which filters?** An “Off Plan share” needs to say whether it is a share of sales count or sales value, and what the total includes. If a chart cannot supply that definition, leave its relevance to your purchase unresolved.\n\nFor example, “Off Plan sales as a share of all sales, counted by transactions” and “Off Plan sales value as a share of all sales value” use different measures. A chart of sales plus mortgages and gifts answers a broader question again. These are comparison definitions, not results calculated from DLD data.\n\n## Put both windows on the page\n\nDLD's interface asks for From Date and To Date, and its transaction table labels a field Transaction Date.[1] Record the actual start and end dates used in a comparison. Do not compare a partial year with a complete year and describe the difference as an annual recovery. Matching calendar windows is a useful starting point, but it does not resolve missing records or changed definitions.\n\nFor earlier data, the DLD page directs readers to data.dubai through a Dubai Pulse link.[1] We could inspect the DLD interface, but could not access that linked historical source during this review. We therefore do not present a 2019–2021 series, claim that its coverage is complete, or attribute any observed change to COVID-19. Check historical documentation before treating an older series and a current view as interchangeable.\n\n## What to ask before relying on a chart\n\nAsk the person presenting the comparison to provide this sentence, completed with their actual source and selections:\n\n> This compares [named transaction selection], measured by [count or amount], for [registration type, usage, property type and location], between [exact first window] and [exact second window]. The percentage uses [named denominator]. The source and its coverage limits are [link and explanation].\n\nThen ask a separate purchase question: **what evidence connects those selected records to this specific unit and contract?** An aggregate chart does not establish the unit's value, completion outcome, payment obligations or future resale result. Keep those deal-level questions open rather than letting a market headline answer them.\n\n*Source inspection: 27 October 2026. The retained page did not establish a publication date, historical dataset coverage period or effective date. No transaction dataset was downloaded or analysed.*\n\n## Sources\n\n[1] https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/open-data/real-estate-data/ — DLD Real Estate Data\n",
  "record_type": "buyer_guide",
  "id": "read-dubai-property-market-comparisons",
  "title": "Reading Dubai property-market comparisons: what does “transactions increased” actually mean?",
  "audience": "Readers checking the scope of a Dubai property-market comparison.",
  "canonical_url": "https://ioffplandubai.com/guides/read-dubai-property-market-comparisons/",
  "last_reviewed": "2026-10-27",
  "steps": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "title": "Separate transaction and registration selections",
      "body": "Ask whether the comparison selects Sales, Mortgages or Gifts, and Ready or Off Plan.",
      "example": {
        "title": "Comparison definition, not a market result",
        "body": "Off Plan sales count as a share of all sales count differs from Off Plan sales value as a share of all sales value."
      },
      "source_ids": [
        "dld-real-estate-interface-20261027"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "collection_checklist": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "title": "Complete the comparison sentence",
      "body": "Name the measure, selection, two exact windows, denominator, source and coverage limits.",
      "source_ids": []
    }
  ],
  "evidence_states": [
    {
      "title": "Interface inspected, not a market series",
      "body": "Amount currency and Transaction Number definition were not established from the retained interface."
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    {
      "title": "Reading method only",
      "body": "No dataset was downloaded or analysed. Historical coverage and causal findings are not established."
    }
  ],
  "questions": [],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "dld-real-estate-interface-20261027",
      "publisher": "Dubai Land Department",
      "label": "DLD Real Estate Data",
      "url": "https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/open-data/real-estate-data/",
      "expectedHost": "dubailand.gov.ae",
      "displayRight": "link_to_official_publisher",
      "verifiedAt": "2026-10-27",
      "publishedAt": null,
      "effectiveAt": null
    }
  ],
  "interpretation": "Educational buyer due diligence. Not legal advice, inventory, brokerage or an offer to transact."
}