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Dubai market, May 2026

165,007 apartment sales in 12 months · 13,230 new leases in May · every figure from registered Land Department and Ejari records

Ready apartment sales fell 11.5% on the year, yet the typical building’s ready price rose 6.4%; new one-bedroom leases cost 3.4% less per sq ft than in May 2025.

Cite this report

Dubai Wealth Index. “Dubai property market report, May 2026.” Dubai. Data to 2026-05-31. https://dubaiwealthindex.com/research/market-report/2026-05

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What moved in MayFour findings, each with its number

  1. Ready apartment sales fell 11.5% on the year; off-plan sales rose 22.2%Off-plan was 75% of the 165,007 registered apartment sales.-11.5%
  2. New one-bedroom leases in May 2026 cost 3.4% less per sq ft than a year earlier13,230 new leases were signed for these types, −13.7% on the same month a year earlier.-3.4%
  3. Ready prices rose in 81% of matched buildings; the typical one moved +6.4%19% of 1,831 matched buildings sold lower per sq ft than a year earlier.+6.4%
  4. Planned completions in Motor City equal 4.6 times the homes let there today; across Dubai, 37%Across Dubai, 197,936 apartments are planned for 2026–2028 against 536,152 homes let today; another 62,602 are in projects past their registered date.463%

Recomputed for the twelve months to 31 May 2026 from records registered up to 5 Oct 2026. Leases registered late count toward the month they started, so this can differ slightly from a report run at the time.

Sales, 12 months to MayAED 322.1bn of apartments changed hands

MarketSalesOn a yearAED/sqftOn a yearValue
All165,007+11.7%1,749+6.4%322.1bn
Ready (resale)40,906-11.5%1,397+6.8%70.8bn
Off-plan124,101+22.2%1,850+3.8%251.3bn

DLD registered apartment sales, 12 months to 31 May 2026 against the 12 before. Value in AED. Gifts and mortgage registrations are not sales. AED 70.8bn changed hands in ready sales against AED 251.3bn contracted off-plan.

Rents and yields by typeThe typical building's studio yields 8.1% gross against 6.9% for two bedrooms

TypeNew-lease rent, /sqftGross yield, median and middle 80% of buildingsMedian yield and range
Studio103+0.1%2,875 new · 3,909 renewals8.1%6.5–9.5 · 316 bldgs
1 bed83-3.4%5,791 new · 9,731 renewals7.4%5.5–8.8 · 575 bldgs
2 bed77-2.8%3,771 new · 9,120 renewals6.9%5.0–8.2 · 339 bldgs
3 bed82-1.8%793 new · 1,651 renewals6.2%4.7–7.9 · 85 bldgs

Rent: median of every new Ejari apartment lease in May 2026, change on May 2025; renewals register late, so the latest count rises after publication. Yield: buildings with three sales and five new leases of the type in the 12 months to 31 May 2026, 1,315 building and type pairs; bar is the 10th to 90th percentile, tick the median, scale 4% to 10% gross.

New one-bedroom rents, month by month

Median rent of new leases, AED per sq ft per year

707580859095May 24Oct 24Mar 25Aug 25Jan 26May 26New one-bedroom leases, May 24: 75New one-bedroom leases, Jun 24: 77New one-bedroom leases, Jul 24: 76New one-bedroom leases, Aug 24: 76New one-bedroom leases, Sep 24: 84New one-bedroom leases, Oct 24: 86New one-bedroom leases, Nov 24: 85New one-bedroom leases, Dec 24: 84New one-bedroom leases, Jan 25: 83New one-bedroom leases, Feb 25: 85New one-bedroom leases, Mar 25: 83New one-bedroom leases, Apr 25: 83New one-bedroom leases, May 25: 86New one-bedroom leases, Jun 25: 85New one-bedroom leases, Jul 25: 84New one-bedroom leases, Aug 25: 89New one-bedroom leases, Sep 25: 92New one-bedroom leases, Oct 25: 93New one-bedroom leases, Nov 25: 91New one-bedroom leases, Dec 25: 89New one-bedroom leases, Jan 26: 89New one-bedroom leases, Feb 26: 91New one-bedroom leases, Mar 26: 84New one-bedroom leases, Apr 26: 79New one-bedroom leases, May 26: 8383
Every new one-bedroom lease registered in the month, to May 2026. Source: Ejari.

The year so far, report by reportReady sales over twelve months went from 46,184 in the January 2026 report to 40,906 in May 2026

Ready prices: typical building against the citywide median

Change in price per sq ft on the previous twelve months, %

Typical buildingCitywide median

+6.0%+7.0%+8.0%+9.0%+10.0%JanFebMarAprMayTypical building, Jan: +8.7%Typical building, Feb: +8.4%Typical building, Mar: +8.0%Typical building, Apr: +7.3%Typical building, May: +6.4%+6.4%Citywide median, Jan: +8.7%Citywide median, Feb: +9.1%Citywide median, Mar: +8.1%Citywide median, Apr: +7.3%Citywide median, May: +6.8%+6.8%
By report month. The gap between the lines is the mix of buildings that traded, not a price move. Source: DLD registered sales.

Ready apartment sales

Registered sales in the twelve months to each month’s end

40k42k44k46k48kJanFebMarAprMayReady sales, Jan: 46.2kReady sales, Feb: 46.4kReady sales, Mar: 45.2kReady sales, Apr: 43.3kReady sales, May: 40.9k40.9k
By report month. Resales of completed apartments; off-plan sales are counted apart. Source: DLD registered sales.

Price moves inside the same buildingsReady prices rose in 81% of matched buildings; the typical one moved +6.4%

Each building counted once per bedroom type, on its own ready sales in both twelve-month windows. The citywide median moves when different buildings trade; these do not.

TypeTypical buildingCitywide medianLower pricesLower rents
All+6.4%+6.8%19% of 1,83123% of 1,305
Studio+6.9%+7.0%17% of 41016% of 304
1 bed+6.8%+7.2%17% of 79720% of 553
2 bed+5.9%+7.0%21% of 49630% of 351
3 bed+5.5%+13.2%30% of 12334% of 92

Where the headline and the buildings disagree most

Axis: change in ready price per sq ft on the previous twelve months, %

Typical buildingArea median

  1. Dubai Marina+18.0% vs +4.4%
  2. Motor City+23.2% vs +12.8%
  3. Discovery Gardens+19.2% vs +9.2%
  4. Arjan+14.2% vs +6.1%
  5. Town Square+19.7% vs +13.1%
  6. Production City+16.2% vs +10.1%
  7. Palm Jumeirah+10.2% vs +5.2%
  8. Dubai Sports City+11.3% vs +6.9%
Areas with at least 20 matched buildings. The longer the line, the more of the area’s headline change came from which buildings traded. Source: DLD registered sales.

Planned supply against the homes let todayPlanned completions in Motor City equal 4.6 times the homes let there today; across Dubai, 37%

Planned completions for three years, as a % of homes let today

  1. Motor City463%
  2. Dubai Harbour410%
  3. Dubai Science Park364%
  4. Dubai South287%
  5. Majan247%
  6. Dubai Maritime City242%
  7. Jumeirah Village Triangle225%
  8. Damac Hills 2208%
  9. All Dubai37%
Areas with at least 500 leases a year; Dubai in grey. 50% means the pipeline would add half as many homes again as are let today. Not a vacancy forecast: completions slip, and some homes are owner-occupied or let short-term. Sources: DLD project register, Ejari.
Show the figures
AreaPlanned vs homes letPlanned, 3 yearsHomes let todayPast date
Motor City463%8,2161,775414
Dubai Harbour410%4,7411,157493
Dubai Science Park364%4,4611,2271,552
Dubai South287%14,1944,9537,920
Majan247%7,0212,847272
Dubai Maritime City242%4,0111,657191
Jumeirah Village Triangle225%6,4152,8472,146
Damac Hills 2208%1,1145360
All Dubai37%197,936536,15262,602

Method and limits

  • Sales are Dubai Land Department registered apartment transactions; leases are Ejari apartment contracts, new and renewed, counted whether or not they name a building we publish.
  • Planned completions are apartment units in projects the Land Department register lists as neither complete nor cancelled, by the year of the registered completion date. Projects already past that date and projects without one are counted separately, not spread over future years. Leases are every registered new and renewed apartment lease in the area in the last 12 months. A planned date is not a delivery forecast. Supply counts projects live at the month’s end by their currently registered completion date.
  • Each building counts once per bedroom type when it has at least five ready sales (or five new leases) in both the last 12 months and the 12 before. Its change is its own median price per sqft (or annual rent) now against then, so the mix of buildings that happened to trade cannot move it. Off-plan sales are left out.
  • This month is fixed: the page and its CSV (free account) keep these figures when later months publish. Full methodology

Dubai property market report, May 2026

Record type
Monthly market report
Data date
· refreshed
Evidence base
40,906 ready and 124,101 off-plan sales in 12 months; 549,246 leases
Sources
Dubai Land Department sales, Ejari leases and project register
Canonical record
/research/market-report/2026-05
Method
Definitions and calculations

Cite as: Dubai Wealth Index. “Dubai property market report, May 2026.” Dubai. Data to 2026-05-31. https://dubaiwealthindex.com/research/market-report/2026-05

Stable dataCSV