Dubai home sales cool, but $10 million deals hit a record 320

The figures were published by real estate brokerage Engel & Völkers in its half-year review of the emirate's residential sector. Both indicators came in below the record set a year earlier, when the market registered 92,910 transactions worth AED 266.3 billion ($72.5 billion). That amounts to a decline of roughly 13% in the number of deals and about 15% in value.

The report described the six-month period as a transition for the market, with two clearly different phases. January and February were strong, with volumes running almost 12% above the same months of 2025. Monthly sales then fell from 15,981 in January to 9,735 in May, the weakest month of the half, before recovering to 12,890 in June.

Engel & Völkers attributed the slowdown to heightened regional uncertainty from late February, which lengthened the time buyers took to make decisions. The company said the effect showed up most clearly in the May data because several weeks usually pass between an agreed sale and its registration, and because of the extended Eid holiday. Deals that had been postponed were completed in June, the report stated.

Cheaper housing continued to account for the bulk of activity. Homes priced below AED 2 million (about $545,000) made up more than 61% of all residential sales, with 23,407 units sold below AED 1 million (about $272,000) and 26,033 in the AED 1-2 million range. Apartments accounted for 83.6% of sales by property type, ahead of townhouses at 10.8% and villas at 5.6%.

At the opposite end of the market, 320 homes changed hands for more than $10 million each, up 23% year-on-year and a record for a first half. Those deals were worth a combined $6.0 billion, equal to 9.7% of the total residential sales value while making up less than 0.5% of transactions. The comparable figure five years earlier was 35 sales in the first half of 2021.

Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Hills Estate led that segment with 53 deals each, followed by Palm Jebel Ali with 40 and Jumeirah with 21. The largest single transaction listed in the report was an off-plan apartment at Aman Residences in Jumeirah 2, sold for AED 422 million ($114.9 million). An off-plan villa at Jumeirah Asora Bay in La Mer went for AED 350 million ($95.3 million), and a completed villa on Jumeirah Bay Island for AED 340 million ($92.6 million).

Off-plan property remained the main driver of sales, taking a 71.3% market share, or more than seven in every ten transactions. Off-plan deals were worth AED 133.1 billion ($36.2 billion) against AED 93.4 billion ($25.4 billion) in the secondary market. The report linked this to developer payment plans, a steady flow of new project launches and buyer confidence in established developers.

Price growth varied widely by district. Villa values on Palm Jumeirah rose 37% year-on-year to AED 8,406 per square foot (about $2,289), the sharpest increase on the list. Villas and townhouses in Jumeirah Village Circle and Jumeirah Village Triangle each gained 20%, while Arabian Ranches and The Springs rose 12%. Dubai Hills Estate villas were broadly flat at 0.1%, and villa prices at Jumeirah Golf Estates fell 3%.

The rental market registered 271,445 tenancy contracts worth AED 23.8 billion ($6.5 billion), with an average annual rent of AED 87,507 (about $23,830). Apartments made up 90.8% of leasing deals, compared with 5.4% for villas and 3.8% for townhouses. One- and two-bedroom homes accounted for almost 68% of contracts. Average annual rents ranged from AED 41,008 (about $11,170) for a studio to AED 516,089 (about $140,530) for a five-bedroom property.

Average gross rental yields stood at 6.6% as of June, according to the report. Apartments returned 6.9%, townhouses 5.1% and villas 4.5%. Dubai South, Arjan, Jumeirah Village Circle and Jumeirah Lakes Towers were named among the districts most attractive to income-focused investors.

On financing, the report listed best available two-year fixed mortgage rates of 3.78% with salary transfer and 3.95% without, as of July 20. Five-year rates were quoted at 4.19% and 4.25% respectively. Non-resident buyers can borrow up to 60-65% of a property's value, though with fewer lenders to choose from than residents.

Looking ahead, Engel & Völkers said it expects the market to stay active through the second half of the year, with volumes likely to remain below the 2025 record. The company noted that the summer months are traditionally quieter and pointed to the International Monetary Fund's expectation that the UAE economy will recover later in the year as exports improve. It also said the volume and timing of new handovers will matter for pricing, with apartment-heavy districts facing more competition than villa and townhouse communities.

The report was compiled using transaction data from the Property Monitor Intelligence Platform, which draws on Dubai Land Department records, together with the company's own sales and leasing data.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that Dubai had ranked second globally in the Boston Consulting Group's Intelligent Cities Index, reflecting the emirate's strong adoption of artificial intelligence and smart city technologies.