Dubai Real Estate in 2026: Why Now Is One of the Best Times to Invest

A Record Breaking 2025 Prepares the Ground.

Until one wants to look further, it can be wise to know the extent to which the foundation is strong. Dubai has ended the most remarkable year ever in its history: more than 270,000 transactions of AED 917 billion – a 20% annual growth. That’s not a typo. Almost a trillion dirhams worth of real estate business in one year.

The amount of transactions increased 18% compared to the previous year and the median prices increased by 5.0 indicating the real market depth, as opposed to the speculative inflation. Over 205,000 residential sales transactions were registered by the Dubai Land Department with a total value increasing by almost 25 percent compared to the previous year.

What’s powering this? End-user demand. The prevailing customer in Dubai is no longer a short-term trader as in the past, but it can be the family moving out of Europe, far-flung professional in pursuit of lifestyle and tax efficiency or a long-term investor to create a real portfolio.

2026 Trends You Need to Know

Customers are favoring owning a house to renting.

The current trends towards the change of renting to buying are considered to be one of the most dramatic structural changes of the market. According to Property Finder data, the percentage of impressions of the sale listing increased by 47 in 2024 to 49 in 2025 and the momentum is still going on in 2026. Approximately 70 percent of the potential purchasers who were surveyed intend to buy in the next six months.

A significant contributor here is government policies. Real, sustainable incentives to establish roots are being made by the UAE Golden Visa programme, First-Time Home Buyer (FTHB) schemes, and home-ownership coupled residency norms. In less than six months over 2,000 residents bought their first home through FTHB programme generating over AED 3.25 billion worth of sales.

The Luxury Segment is being redefined.

Luxury in Dubai is no longer about the penthouse view and marble finishing. The high-net-worth buyer of today is posing other questions: Does it have a park? Would my children be able to walk to school? What’s the commute like? The walkability of the neighbourhood?

This community-based definition of high-end living is remaking the location of choice of the affluent – and investment. The villa 4+ bedroom home demand has increased by 38 percent of total villa transactions three years prior to the Villa to 62 percent in 2025 indicating the strong change of preference towards family-focused and lifestyle based purchasing.

In 2025, USD 63 billion of incoming wealth also poured into Dubai, and the inflows of HNWI increased by 46 per cent every year. The interest is the greatest in branded residences, master-planned communities, and projects that are consistent with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.

Off-Plan Still is a strongpoint of entry.

The market is still dominated by off-plan properties which are approximately 66-70 percent of the sales that were registered in the first half of 2025. The flexibility of payment, incentives provided to the developers and the possibility of getting into the growing communities at pre-handover prices make off-plan a good strategy, particularly in places where there is an advantageous infrastructure.

The major areas of interest are the Dubai South, Dubai Creek Harbour, Palm Jebel Ali, Dubai Islands, and Maritime City. These districts are winning a lot of attention of the developers and also these districts are very much in line with the long term urban outlook of the city.

Infrastructure The Future of New neighbourhoods Unlocked.

The infrastructure pipeline in Dubai is directly affecting the places where smart investors are seeking. Short-term road improvement projects such as the Hessa Street corridor, Umm Suqeim-Al Qudra road and Latifa bint Hamdan Street are likely to increase the demand of readymade units in the areas of JVC, Al Barsha, Dubai Hills and Business Bay.

Farther away, the Blue Metro Line (which is due to be operational in 2029) is already affecting off-plan purchases in places such as International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Mirdif and Al Warqa’a. The strategic customers are moving forward with positioning themselves before the upgrade of connectivity.

Rental Yields Still World Leading.

Dubai still has average rental returns of approximately 7 percent despite the increase in prices, and this is way above that of other cities such as London, New York and Singapore. Rental demand does not have an exit as the population is already over 4 million with the long-term projections of 5.8 million by 2040.

The commercial real estate is also booming and the prices of the secondary markets have raised by 20 percent annually, owing to lack of supply and high quality and the relocation of businesses to UAE has been on the increase.

Price Outlook for 2026

Cushman and Wakefield experts predict another 8-12% of price and rental increase in 2026. Supply is even tighter than most would care to think, – out of 71,613 residential units projected to be delivered in 2026, only about 48 percent should be completed actually on time. Those stock shortages still underpin the price, especially in the premium and the mid-market segments.

It is not likely that this will be corrected sharply. A more likely, and already observable, outcome would be a more mellow growth rate as the market is becoming increasingly segmented. Location, community quality and track record of the developers will be important than ever before.