Dubai Market Reports

Latest edition: August 2026

The mean was $654,653, well above the median, because a small number of very large sales pull the average up. The largest single registered sale in the month was $197.4m. Freehold accounted for 96.9 percent of registered sales, and 95.6 percent of all registrations including mortgages and grants.

Off-plan apartments registered at $475 per square foot against $381 for ready apartments, a 24.9 percent premium. Across all property types the off-plan premium was 18.3 percent. Studios and one bedrooms together were 75 percent of registered residential units where a bedroom count was recorded, and 63 percent of all registered sales including land, buildings and units with no bedroom field.

Median price and size by bedroom count, August 2026

Unit type	Median price	Median size
Studio	$176,649	381 sq ft
1 bedroom	$326,711	756 sq ft
2 bedroom	$551,607	1,238 sq ft
3 bedroom	$972,496	1,826 sq ft

Source: Dubai Land Department registered sales, August 2026. Converted at 3.6725.

The archive

What Dubai Property Actually Costs in USDAugust 2026 edition · published 3 September 2026The full August register in dollars. 11,600 registered sales, median $330,255, mean $654,653, and the off-plan premium broken out by property type. Check a Dubai Developer Before You BuyProject register · published 4 September 2026A searchable tool covering 324 registered projects. Escrow account present or absent, percentage built, days since the last regulator inspection, and declared value. What Off Plan Actually Costs, Matched Like for LikeAugust 2026 edition · published 7 September 2026The headline off plan premium is 21.7 percent. Matched on identical community and bedroom count across 63 cells and 3,363 registered sales, it is 33.1 percent. The common number understates it. What Dubai Actually Costs, by Price BandAugust 2026 edition · published 6 September 2026Every registered apartment sale sorted into US dollar price bands. 76.3 percent traded under $500,000 and 40.7 percent under $250,000. The top 1.2 percent of sales carried 15.4 percent of the money. What Dubai Property Actually TradesRegister window 30 June to 18 August 2026 · published 21 August 2026The unit mix nobody quotes, broken down by bedroom count. Studios are 39 percent of the market and four bedrooms are 0.5 percent, across 18,587 registered residential sales. Dubai Price Per Square Foot by CommunityAugust 2026 edition · published 21 August 2026, rebuilt 6 September 2026Registered price per square foot across 16 communities in dollars. On the August register the spread runs from $336 in Dubai South to $740 on Palm Jumeirah, across 4,399 registered apartment sales. Each community is published with the Dubai Land Department area name it counts, so every figure can be reproduced from the same public file. What $500,000 Actually Buys in DubaiRegister window 30 June to 18 August 2026 · published 20 August 2026One budget, 15 communities, registered prices only. What half a million dollars gets you by size and bedroom count. What Dubai's 71% Off Plan Figure Actually MeasuresRegister window 30 June to 18 August 2026 · published 21 August 2026A widely repeated headline number, taken apart. What the 71 percent counts, what it leaves out, and why the figure moves depending on the filter.

Luxury, defined as AED 10 million and above

AED 10m is $2,722,941 at the peg. In August 2026 there were 319 such sales. That is 2.75 percent of all registered sales by count and 30.5 percent of all registered value. Roughly one sale in thirty six carried close to a third of the money.

The project register, September 2026

Alongside the transaction record we publish the registered project record. The September pull covers 324 projects with 2026 start dates, together 93,256 homes and $25.89bn of declared value.

The 147 active projects sitting at zero percent built carry 49,455 homes and $11.20bn between them. Thirty of those active projects are due to hand over in 2027 and twenty of them are still at zero. Across the whole register, including pending and cancelled, the figures are 37 due in 2027 with 26 at zero, and 120 not inspected in 180 days. None of that is proof of a problem. It is the base rate a buyer should know before wiring a deposit.

What we count and what we do not

• Two register windows run in this series. Reports covering a full calendar month state the month, so the August edition is 1 to 31 August 2026 and holds 15,955 registrations. Three older reports still carry a rolling window of 30 June to 18 August 2026 holding 18,587 residential sales. The two are different datasets and their figures are not directly comparable. Dubai Sports City reads $356 per square foot on the rolling window and $348 on the August calendar month measured on apartments only. Neither is a correction of the other. Each card above states which window it uses, and every report states its window in its opening paragraph.
• Registered transactions only. A record enters the series when it appears in the Dubai Land Department register. Listings, portal asking prices and off-market talk are excluded.
• Sales are separated from the total. A month's registration count includes mortgages and gifts. When we say sales we mean sales. In August 2026 that was 11,600 of 15,955 registrations.
• Median before mean. Dubai has a long price tail. We lead with the median and give the mean alongside it so the gap is visible rather than hidden.
• Luxury means AED 10 million and above. That is $2,722,941 at the peg. We use one definition every month rather than moving it to suit a headline.
• Dollars at 3.6725. The dirham is pegged. There is no currency view in these numbers and no forecast of one.
• Square feet, converted. The register is in square metres. We convert at 10.7639 and say so.
• No named individuals. The register contains personal detail. We publish aggregates and project level facts. We do not publish people.
• Escrow answered yes or no. We report whether a registered project has an escrow account. We do not publish account numbers.

Where a number is uncertain we say so

The off-plan premium is the clearest example. Depending on how the sample is filtered it lands between 21 and 25 percent. We publish the range and the basis rather than picking the number that reads best. If you want the working, ask.

Schedule

The transaction report follows the Dubai Land Department monthly export, usually in the first week of the following month. The project register is refreshed at the same time. Los Angeles and Miami comparisons follow their own associations, which publish around the 20th to the 22nd.