Dubai Real Estate Market Report — May, 2026
May, 2026 Analysis
fäm Properties · Dubai Real Estate Market Report · May 2026
Dubai property sales fall 45% in May 2026
AED 28.91 billion in sales, with a median price of AED 1,640/sqft across all property types.
By Fateh Al Msaddi, Founder, DXBinteract. Updated 2026-10-17; source data retrieved 2026-10-16.
| Measure | Figure | Year-on-year change / basis |
|---|---|---|
| Sales transactions | 10,279 | -44.9% |
| Sales value | AED 28.91 billion | -56.7% |
| Median sale price per sqft | AED 1,640/sqft | +0.9% |
| Primary share by count | 73.9% | All property types |
| Units launched | 2,466 | Reported supply activity |
| Units delivered | 2,505 | Reported supply activity |
Dubai recorded 10,279 property sales worth AED 28.91 billion in May 2026, across all property types. Sales count fell 44.9% year on year, while the median sale price per sqft rose 0.9% to AED 1,640. DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department records provides the figures behind this fäm Properties report.
A sharp drop in spending, with little movement in the median
May’s fall in sales value was larger than its decline in transaction count, while the median price per sqft changed only slightly. The distinction matters. Dubai saw less aggregate spending, but that does not translate into an equivalent fall in the unit rate paid for the properties that sold.
A different mix of transaction sizes, property types or locations may help explain the gap between spending and the median. The aggregate does not identify the cause. Buyers and sellers therefore need to keep the quieter sales environment separate from any claim about the value of an individual property.
The underlying figures and their source report are available in the DXBinteract May 2026 market report. This fäm Properties edition interprets the same snapshot for buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords.
| Measure | 2026 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales count | 10,279 | 18,659 | -44.9% |
| Sales value (AED) | 28,905,483,979 | 66,714,047,601 | -56.7% |
| Median AED/sqft | 1,640 | 1,625 | +0.9% |
Sales count fell 26.8% from April 2026
Dubai recorded 10,279 sales in May 2026, compared with 14,045 in April 2026, across all property types. The 26.8% decrease is a comparison of the two saved snapshots. The year-on-year comparison remains the primary reference because adjacent periods can be affected by seasonality and transaction mix.
Developer purchases make up 73.9% of transactions
In Dubai, May 2026 primary purchases totalled 7,593 transactions worth AED 18.44 billion, representing 73.9% of all sales by count and 63.8% by value. The resale segment recorded 2,686 sales worth AED 10.47 billion. These are all-property-type figures from DXBinteract analysis of DLD records.
| Channel | Transactions | Share of count | Sales value (AED) | Share of value | Median AED/sqft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 7,593 | 73.9% | 18,439,611,698 | 63.8% | 1,659 |
| Resale | 2,686 | 26.1% | 10,465,872,281 | 36.2% | 1,545 |
Primary means a purchase directly from a developer. It can include ready developer stock. Resale means a secondary-market purchase, which can include an off-plan resale. The channel split therefore cannot be relabelled as off-plan versus ready. Differences between these medians also do not establish that one channel offers a discount on a comparable property.
Apartment transactions lead the property-type split
Dubai recorded 8,770 apartment sales in May 2026, the highest transaction count among the property types in this snapshot. The table separates counts, total value, median ticket price and median price per sqft, so a change in activity is not mistaken for a change in unit pricing.
| Type | Count | Value (AED) | Median price (AED) | Median AED/sqft | Count YoY | Median AED/sqft YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment | 8,770 | 14,548,375,929 | 1,075,200 | 1,644 | -37.4% | -4.8% |
| Building | 4 | 102,228,590 | 864,295 | 1,015 | +300.0% | +176.6% |
| Commercial | 335 | 2,928,134,001 | 3,080,850 | 4,063 | -23.9% | +135.4% |
| Plot | 132 | 4,141,200,688 | 6,250,000 | 702 | -65.3% | +37.4% |
| Villa | 1,038 | 7,185,544,771 | 3,814,000 | 1,455 | -72.9% | +7.2% |
For a household, the median sale price gives a different reference from the median price per sqft: one describes the transaction ticket and the other its unit rate. Neither includes an individual buyer’s financing and transaction costs. Medians from categories with fewer than 50 sales are particularly sensitive to the mix of properties sold; they are shown with their counts rather than treated as a broad pricing signal.
Business Bay leads the reported area table by value
For Dubai in May 2026, Business Bay heads the supplied area table by sales value at AED 2.70 billion, while Dubai South leads by count with 1,353 sales. These rankings cover apartments, villas and commercial property only, excluding townhouses, plots and buildings. They use a narrower basis than the citywide headline.
| Rank | Area as recorded | Sales value (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business Bay | 2,696,186,142 |
| 2 | Wadi Al Safa 3 | 1,651,478,051 |
| 3 | Dubai South | 1,487,054,565 |
| 4 | Dubai Islands | 1,421,062,250 |
| 5 | Palm Jumeirah | 1,200,522,496 |
| Rank | Area as recorded | Sales count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dubai South | 1,353 |
| 2 | Wadi Al Safa 3 | 983 |
| 3 | Wadi Al Safa 5 | 631 |
| 4 | Al Barsha South Fourth | 549 |
| 5 | Jabal Ali First | 467 |
Activity rankings show where transactions were concentrated, not which area delivered the highest investment return. Area names are retained as recorded. An official DLD land district may contain several communities, so its figures should not be assigned to one smaller community without a matching geographic breakdown.
New apartment leases show a median annual rent of AED 67,000
Dubai’s May 2026 rental snapshot records 9,769 new apartment contracts at a median annual rent of AED 67,000. Apartment renewals numbered 12,540 at a median of AED 59,000. These are different populations of recorded contracts, according to DXBinteract analysis of DLD records.
| Property type | Contract type | Count | Median annual rent (AED) | Median annual AED/sqft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment | New | 9,769 | 67,000 | 89 |
| Apartment | Renewal | 12,540 | 59,000 | 72 |
| Commercial | New | 1,848 | 110,000 | 109 |
| Commercial | Renewal | 2,381 | 109,147 | 105 |
| Villa | New | 1,445 | 175,000 | 71 |
| Villa | Renewal | 1,480 | 163,000 | 64 |
For a tenant considering a move, the new-contract median is the relevant population to distinguish from renewals. For a landlord reviewing a renewal, the gap between the two medians is not a permitted or expected increase on a particular lease. The report does not specify the underlying rental date basis, so the figures are described as recorded contracts, and rental growth rates are not inferred from rounded percentages alone.
Rental yield is not calculated by dividing these rental medians by unrelated sales medians. A property-level yield needs matched purchase and rental information, and a net yield also depends on ownership costs. Those inputs are outside this snapshot.
2,466 units launched; 2,505 delivered
Dubai’s May 2026 supply summary records 2,466 launched units across 11 projects and 2,505 delivered units across 12 projects. These figures describe two different stages of the development process, not a single measure of stock available for sale.
| Stage | Units | Projects |
|---|---|---|
| Launched | 2,466 | 11 |
| Delivered | 2,505 | 12 |
A launch introduces units into a project’s sales cycle; a delivery brings a completed project into use. Units delivered now may have sold years earlier. Subtracting launches from deliveries therefore does not establish unsold stock, and comparing launched units with transaction count does not produce a reliable absorption rate. No future handover schedule or forecast is asserted here.
What the report means for property decisions
For May 2026, the key distinction is fewer transactions alongside a higher median price per sqft. Buyers and sellers face a market in which aggregate activity and the unit rate moved in different directions. That is a reason to use property-level evidence, rather than assume that one headline describes every segment.
For tenants and landlords, the rental table is a separate set of evidence. New leases and renewals should remain distinct, and neither median alone describes an individual lease negotiation. The useful next step is to identify the relevant property and contract population before comparing prices.
Source, coverage and definitions
Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records.
This fäm Properties edition uses the same saved figures as the corresponding DXBinteract report, retrieved on 2026-10-16. Editorial copy was updated on 2026-10-17. The retrieval date is not a confirmed last-registration date, and figures may be revised when the source snapshot is refreshed.
The sales headline and category table cover all property types. Area rankings and the historical series cover Apartment, Villa and Commercial only. Rental counts cover the listed categories and separate new contracts from renewals; their underlying date basis is not supplied. Currency is AED and floor area is sqft. Category and channel values may differ slightly from overall totals because source figures are rounded separately.
Year-on-year sales changes are recalculated from the same reporting period in the saved 2025 and 2026 rows. Current annual data are labelled YTD, with no full-year comparison. A median is the middle observation, not an average; segment medians are not combined into a citywide median. Where period snapshots do not reconcile, the difference is disclosed rather than treated as a measured market change.
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Questions about May, 2026
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