Short-term rentals in Dubai
Compare renting to operate a holiday home with buying to operate one, using sampled asking rates and registered benchmarks.
Airbnb rates 12 months forward, 7-night stays
Across 419 buildings in 34 areas, a nightly let returns a median 1.7× the registered building/bedroom lease benchmark — at an assumed 80% occupancy, net of platform fees, cleaning and utilities, and assuming a self-managed unit (0% management fee). Buildings where the nightly let earns less than the lease are excluded from every figure on this page. Compare modelled operating surplus after a lease, or yield on a supported purchase benchmark. View sales · View rentals
Rent to operate, or buy to operate?
Rental arbitrage
Start with annual short-term revenue after modelled operating costs, then subtract the annual lease. Compare break-even occupancy with your own occupancy scenario and replace the registered rent benchmark with your actual contract.
Buy to short-term let
Compare modelled operating revenue with the supported purchase benchmark. Add acquisition, furnishing, service charges and financing costs before assessing your own return. A missing buy yield means insufficient sales evidence; rental economics can still be shown.
These scenarios assume 80% occupancy and self-management. Surplus excludes furnishing, deposits, permits, owner service charges and finance. Sampled asks are not achieved bookings; building-level rental benchmarks may pool project contracts. Check landlord permission and current DET holiday-home requirements before operating.
- Median short-term yield
- 10.63%
- Assumes 80% occupancy
- Median premium vs lease
- 1.7×
- Median of the area medians
- Buildings with a nightly rate
- 419
- Across 34 areas
The most active areas
The areas with the most buildings carrying a sampled nightly asking rate, with the median short-term yield in each.
Jumeirah Village Circle
83 buildings
13.00%
median yield
Business Bay
53 buildings
11.80%
median yield
Meydan One
38 buildings
9.27%
median yield
Dubai Marina
36 buildings
10.63%
median yield
Dubai Creek Harbour
27 buildings
9.54%
median yield
Downtown Dubai
26 buildings
9.00%
median yield
Dubai Hills Estate
16 buildings
11.72%
median yield
Sobha Hartland
15 buildings
13.58%
median yield
Every area
Ordered by the number of buildings with a sampled nightly asking rate.
Yield deltas are vs the median Dubai area (10.63%).
Short-term revenue relative to the lease
Highest modelled operating-revenue-to-lease ratios across the published cohort. Rental benchmarks may use shared project evidence.
- 1Marina StarDubai Marina · Studio · 1.77 AED/night/sqft2.6×
- 2Park Ridge Tower CDubai Hills Estate · 1 bed · 1.59 AED/night/sqft2.6×
- 3Sobha Hartland - Crest GrandeSobha Hartland · 1 bed · 1.24 AED/night/sqft2.5×
- 4Savanna at Creek Beach Building 3Dubai Creek Harbour · 2 bed · 1.30 AED/night/sqft2.5×
- 5Savanna at Creek Beach Building 1Dubai Creek Harbour · 2 bed · 1.24 AED/night/sqft2.5×
- 6Collective Tower 1Dubai Hills Estate · 1 bed · 1.75 AED/night/sqft2.5×
- 7Binghatti JasmineJumeirah Village Circle · 1 bed · 1.03 AED/night/sqft2.5×
- 8Savanna at Creek Beach Building 2Dubai Creek Harbour · 2 bed · 1.29 AED/night/sqft2.5×
- 9Azizi Mirage 1Dubai Studio City · Studio · 1.40 AED/night/sqft2.5×
- 10Bellevue Towers-2Downtown Dubai · 1 bed · 1.77 AED/night/sqft2.5×