CRESCO RESEARCH
The median Dubai home sold for $301,758 in August 2026. The official fee schedule adds $19,692 on top of that. With a mortgage the cash you need to close is $81,791. Here is every line, computed from the register and the published tariff.
Two numbers answer this question. If you are paying cash you need $321,451 to buy the median Dubai home. If you are taking a mortgage as an expatriate first time buyer you need $81,791.
The gap between those two numbers is the whole point of this page. Most guides quote you a purchase price and stop. The price is not the number you need in your account.
Everything below is computed from the Dubai Land Department transaction register for August 2026 and the fee tariff the Land Department publishes on its own services pages. We did the arithmetic ourselves. Nothing here is an estimate.
The register holds 9,956 residential unit sales for August 2026 on our standard basis. The median sale was $301,758 for 729 square feet, which works out at $465 per square foot. Dirhams convert at the pegged rate of 3.6725 to the dollar.
Here is every fee a cash buyer pays on that median home. The dirham column is the fee as the tariff states it. The dollar column is ours.
| Line | AED | USD | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | 1,108,207 | $301,758 | Register median |
| Land Department transfer fee | 44,328 | $12,070 | 4 per cent of sale value |
| Agency commission | 23,272 | $6,337 | 2 per cent plus 5 per cent VAT, market rate |
| Service partner fee | 4,200 | $1,144 | AED 4,000 plus VAT, sales at or above AED 500,000 |
| Title deed issuance | 250 | $68 | Fixed |
| Property map | 250 | $68 | Fixed, villas and apartments |
| Knowledge and innovation fees | 20 | $5 | AED 10 each |
| Fees and commission only | 72,320 | $19,692 | 6.53 per cent of price |
| Total cash, no mortgage | 1,180,527 | $321,451 | Price plus every fee above |
So the real entry cost on a median Dubai home is 6.53 per cent above the asking price. That is $19,692 of fees and commission on a $301,758 home.
This is the part nobody publishes. Several of the fees are flat amounts. The title deed, the map and the service partner fee do not change when the price changes. So the cheaper the home, the heavier the fee load in percentage terms.
We ran the same tariff across the price distribution of all 9,956 sales.
| Percentile of the market | Price USD | Fees USD | Fees as share of price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | $159,564 | $11,019 | 6.91 per cent |
| 25th | $190,395 | $12,899 | 6.78 per cent |
| 50th (median) | $301,758 | $19,692 | 6.53 per cent |
| 75th | $480,956 | $30,624 | 6.37 per cent |
| 90th | $782,722 | $49,031 | 6.26 per cent |
A buyer at the bottom of the market pays 6.91 per cent in fees. A buyer at the top pays 6.26 per cent. The cheapest homes carry the heaviest proportional cost of entry. If you are budgeting at the lower end, use the higher percentage.
A mortgage lowers the cash you need and adds two fees. The Central Bank of the UAE caps how much a bank may lend against a property. Those caps are set out in its Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans and they are not negotiable.
| Buyer and property | Maximum loan | Minimum deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Expatriate, first home, under AED 5 million | 80 per cent | 20 per cent |
| Expatriate, first home, over AED 5 million | 70 per cent | 30 per cent |
| Expatriate, second and subsequent | 60 per cent | 40 per cent |
| UAE national, first home, AED 5 million or under | 85 per cent | 15 per cent |
| UAE national, first home, over AED 5 million | 75 per cent | 25 per cent |
| UAE national, second and subsequent | 65 per cent | 35 per cent |
| Any buyer, off plan | 50 per cent | 50 per cent |
On the median home an expatriate first time buyer borrows 80 per cent. That means a deposit of $60,352, plus mortgage registration at 0.25 per cent of the loan ($604) and a second service partner fee ($1,144). Add the transfer fee and commission from the first table and the cash to close is $81,791.
Off plan is the expensive case for cash. The cap is 50 per cent whoever you are, so the cash to close on the median home rises to $172,378.
| Percentile of the market | Price USD | Cash to close at 80 per cent loan |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $159,564 | $44,394 |
| 25th | $190,395 | $52,503 |
| 50th (median) | $301,758 | $81,791 |
| 75th | $480,956 | $128,920 |
| 90th | $782,722 | $208,285 |
Only 325 of the 9,956 sales cleared AED 5 million, which is where the expatriate cap tightens from 80 per cent to 70. For almost every buyer the 80 per cent line is the one that applies.
Everyone calls it the 4 per cent Land Department fee. The Land Department does not. Its own sale registration page lists 2 per cent of the sale value from the seller and 2 per cent from the buyer.
In practice the buyer pays all four. It is written into almost every Dubai sale agreement and it is the market norm. We have modelled it that way above because that is what actually happens. But it is a contract term and not a law, so it is a term you are allowed to raise. Most buyers never know there is anything to raise.
Every one of those is real money. None of them has an official published rate we can verify, so none of them is in our tables. A guide that gives you a precise total including a no objection certificate fee has guessed at it.
The comparison needs care because the two countries publish different kinds of number. Dubai publishes what sold. The United States publishes both, and the per square foot series is asking prices.
| Measure, August 2026 | Dubai | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $301,758 (sold) | $429,100 (sold) |
| Median size | 729 sq ft (sold) | 1,833 sq ft (asking) |
| Median price per square foot | $465 (sold) | $224 (asking) |
Dubai costs 2.08 times as much per square foot and about 30 per cent less per home. Both of those are true at once because the median Dubai home is 39.8 per cent of the size of the median American one. You are paying a higher rate for a smaller box.
The fee side is where the two countries differ most. The UAE does not levy income tax on individuals, so rental income is not taxed as income. Dubai also takes the bulk of what it takes at the point of transfer rather than every year. We set out every Dubai property tax and charge, with its source, on our taxes in Dubai page.
Source. The Dubai Land Department transaction register for August 2026, downloaded on 2 September 2026, 15,955 rows. It is the most recent complete monthly register we hold. Fee amounts come from the Land Department sale registration and mortgage registration service pages. Loan caps come from the Central Bank of the UAE Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans. The VAT rate of 5 per cent comes from the Ministry of Finance.
Basis. Sales only, residential usage only, property type Unit, priced at or above AED 500 per square foot. That is the standard basis across this site and it leaves 9,956 sales. Area converts at 10.7639 square feet to the square metre. Dirhams convert at the peg of 3.6725. All central figures are medians.
What was removed. The register holds 10,123 residential Unit sales in August 2026. We screened out 167 rows priced below AED 500 per square foot as non market transfers. Villas and townhouses register as Building rather than Unit, so they are not in this count.
Why our median differs from our other page. Our page on Dubai versus United States price per square foot reports a Dubai median of $321,307 across 2,757 sales at 865 square feet. That page measures ready homes only and applies no price per square foot screen. This page measures the full standard basis, off plan and ready together. Both figures are correct. They answer different questions, and we would rather show you the join than quietly publish two medians.
The commission is not an official fee. The 2 per cent agency commission is the market rate charged by licensed brokers. It is not a government tariff and it is negotiable. Every other line in the first table is published by the Land Department.
Limits. One month is one month. Registration dates are not always the dates a deal was agreed. The register does not say whether an area figure is built up or saleable. It carries no service charge, no rent and no bank valuation. United States size and per square foot figures are asking prices from listings and are not directly comparable to Dubai sold figures, which is why both are labelled above.
On the median home sold in August 2026 you need $321,451 in cash, or $81,791 if you take an 80 per cent mortgage as an expatriate first time buyer. The median price itself was $301,758.
On the median home the fees and commission came to $19,692, which is 6.53 per cent of the price. That is the 4 per cent transfer fee, 2 per cent agency commission plus VAT, the service partner fee, the title deed and the map.
The Land Department charges 2 per cent to the seller and 2 per cent to the buyer. By market convention the buyer pays the whole 4 per cent, and that is how almost every sale agreement is written.
20 per cent on a first home under AED 5 million, 30 per cent above that, and 40 per cent on a second property. Off plan is capped at a 50 per cent loan whoever you are. Those caps are set by the Central Bank of the UAE.
Yes, proportionally. Several fees are flat amounts, so they weigh more on a small ticket. Fees were 6.91 per cent of price at the 10th percentile and 6.26 per cent at the 90th.
Per home yes, per square foot no. The median Dubai home sold for $301,758 against $429,100 in the United States. But Dubai sold at $465 per square foot against a United States asking price of $224. The Dubai home is smaller.
Cresco Real Estate is a RERA licensed brokerage, ORN 34288. We put the numbers for your specific unit in writing before you commit. That includes the transfer and registration fees, the full instalment schedule, the service charge position and the escrow arrangements for the project.
Our United States office is at 1800 N Vine St, Suite 346, Los Angeles, CA 90028. We also publish Dubai versus United States price per square foot and what Dubai costs by price band in dollars.
This page is market research and marketing information. It is not investment advice, not a valuation and not an offer. Property values move. Verify every figure against the developer contract and your own advisers before you commit.