Growth in Dubai, which constitutes a dominant share of the UAE real estate market, was driven by strong population inflows (rising to over 200,000 net inflow of residents in 2025) supported by lifestyle appeal, world-leading safety, and diverse economic opportunities.
This growth was broad-based across both residential and commercial segments, with residential transactions rising +26% year-on-year (by value) and commercial growth accelerating to +61% year-on-year.
Moreover, property prices in Dubai continued to rise, with strong demand lifting prices by 8% year-on-year, while price growth moderated as improving supply began to catch up with consistently strong demand.

Within Dubai’s residential real estate market, growth remained balanced with both volumes (+18% year-on-year) and prices (+5% year-on-year based on median prices) rising - reflecting genuine liquidity and buyers’ willingness to spend more on homes.
Genuine liquidity is evidenced by strong buyer intent. Analysis of Property Finder’s bi-monthly consumer sentiment poll, the PF Market Pulse, shows that ~70% of respondents plan to buy a property within the next six months, signaling sustained demand heading into 2026.
Willingness to spend more on homes is validated by a consumer survey undertaken by Mortgage Finder, which suggested home mortgage spend as a percentage of median income increasing from ~23% last year to ~31% in 2025 - indicating higher willingness to spend on home-buying, alongside stronger buying commitment.
Moreover, residential growth was driven by both primary and secondary segments. Secondary rose +16% year-on-year on the back of end-user demand, while primary grew faster at +36% year-on-year, reflecting strong investor confidence.
Such investor confidence has not only been sustained but has strengthened, supported by strong economic outlook, increasing non-oil diversification, a favorable business environment, and a consistently open policy environment. Dubai’s strong safe-haven status has further reinforced investor demand and capital inflows.
Despite faster growth in primary transactions versus secondary, price growth remained stronger in the secondary market, as improving primary supply capped price growth, even amid strong demand.

Strong demand for homes is also evident in buyer behaviour data, with home-seekers increasingly shifting from renting to buying. On Property Finder, the share of sale-listing impressions rose from 47% in 2024 to 49% in 2025, while rent declined from 53% to 51%, signalling a clear tilt toward home-ownership.
Home-seekers are increasingly shifting to buying, driven by favorable long-term residency policies such as the UAE Golden Visa and home-ownership linked residency norms. Additionally, targeted initiatives such as Dubai’s First-Time Home Buyer (FTHB) Programme, has seen strong results, with over 2,000 residents purchasing their first home under the programme over the last six months, driving more than AED 3.25 billion in residential property sales.
Apart from a shift towards buying over renting, buyers have increasingly moved to luxury and super-luxury homes (> AED 2,500/sq ft). This trend was supported by a +46% year-on-year rise in HNWI inflows, reinforcing Dubai’s position as a global leader in wealth migration, with USD 63bn in incoming wealth in 2025,reflecting the impact of wealthier population inflows.
The demand for such super-luxury demand is evolving beyond established legacy communities. While ready secondary activity remains anchored in prime locations such as Downtown Dubai and Palm Jumeirah, off-plan demand is increasingly extending to relatively newer communities such as Dubai Harbour and Maritime City, indicative of shifting buyer behavior.
At the same time, apartments continued to dominate buyer demand, accounting for 93% of residential transactions in 2025 (up from 90% in 2024). This was driven by healthy apartment supply, which offered buyers a wider choice across price points and layouts.
In contrast, villa supply remained structurally limited, reflected through faster villa price growth of +14% year-on-year (in median prices) versus ~6% year-on-year for apartments, despite lower transaction volumes than apartments.
Within apartments, studios gained share steadily (~25% share in volumes in 2025, up from ~22% last year), driven by affordability and strong investment economics, emerging as the preferred choice for buyers and investors due to the highest capital appreciation over the last three years versus larger apartments, while continuing to deliver higher rental yields.
While studios were largely an investment-led choice, villas skewed towards lifestyle-driven demand. ~72% of villa transactions were in the mid-market segment (AED 1,000–1,800/sq ft), compared with only ~46% for apartments, highlighting that villas are long-term living choices, while apartments are primarily driven by yield or premium-upgrade appeal.

Dubai’s top communities (by transaction value) showed stability in ready homes, while dynamism in off-plan.
For ready secondary transactions, the top 10 communities remained unchanged compared to last year, suggesting sustained end-user demand in established locations. Notably, seven communities - including Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay, JVC, JBR, and Dubai Hills Estate - have consistently featured in the top ranks for the past five years, reflecting ample liquidity and lifestyle appeal.
In contrast, off-plan primary activity was more dynamic, driven by fresh launches and infrastructure-led catalysts, with new entrants such as Dubai Islands and Maritime City, while Business Bay, Dubai Land, and JVC continued to lead - highlighting them as evergreen communities with deep secondary liquidity alongside sustained demand for new launches.
Going ahead in 2026, infrastructure upgrades will impact communities differently. Near-term road upgrades - including Hessa Street, Umm Suqeim–Al Qudra corridor, and Latifa bint Hamdan Street - are expected to support demand for ready units in communities such as JVC, Al Barsha, Dubai Hills, Al Sufouh, and Business Bay, through improved connectivity and reduced commute times.
Meanwhile, the Blue Metro Line, expected to be operational from 2029 onwards, is anticipated to drive demand for off-plan projects in communities along the corridor, such as International City, Al Warqa’a, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Mirdif, and Academic City, as buyers and investors factor in future transit connectivity.

Developer activity remained strong in 2025, reflecting confidence in medium-term demand. Emaar led in transaction value, while Binghatti topped in volumes.
There was a high overlap between developers, with large active construction pipelines and those leading new launches, indicating that established developers are doubling down on Dubai.

Dubai’s commercial real estate market accelerated sharply in 2025, with transaction value rising +61% year-on-year, outpacing residential growth. While partly supported by large land deals, commercial growth remained slightly stronger than residential, even excluding these, signalling broad-based momentum.
Focusing on the core commercial segment (sub-AED 100m transactions, excluding land), growth was strong across both primary and secondary segments. Primary surged (+199% year-on-year), driven by rising investor confidence and a positive economic outlook, while secondary transactions also grew at a healthy pace (+56% year-on-year), supported by sustained occupier demand.
Prices and rents rose sharply across both segments. Commercial prices increased +8% year-on-year in primary and +20% year-on-year in secondary (over 2025), supported by limited high-quality supply, high occupancy rates, and continued business relocations into the UAE.
An emerging trend in the commercial market is a dual investor behaviour - with share of off-plan primary transactions increased, signalling strengthening investor confidence, while the share of off-plan secondary transactions also rose, as healthy price appreciation prompted some investors to monetize early gains.

Abu Dhabi’s real estate market saw faster growth in 2025 versus last year, with transaction value rising +79% year-on-year, driven by population inflows, improving investor confidence.
Residential remained the dominant segment (~89% share by value), driving the bulk of market growth through both volume and price expansion.
Within residential (sub-AED 100m transactions, excluding land), primary transactions (+72% year-on-year) grew significantly faster than secondary (+35% year-on-year), reflecting strong investor confidence, while healthy secondary growth pointed to sustained end-user demand.

Home-seekers in Abu Dhabi too showed a shift toward buying over renting. On Property Finder, sale-listing impressions for the emirate rose from 26% in 2024 to 31% in 2025 (+5pp year-on-year) in contrast to a decline in rent listing impressions.
Buyers in Abu Dhabi continued to favor apartments over villas, with apartments accounting for ~72% of residential transactions in 2025, up from ~67% in 2024, supported by healthy apartment supply and wider choice. Within villas, the share of 4+ bedroom units has risen steadily over the past 3–4 years, while a sharper increase in 6+ bedroom homes in 2025 suggests a growing base of end-users relocating with long-term living intentions.

Ready secondary demand remained concentrated in established communities such as Al Reem Island, Al Saadiyat Island, Yas Island, and Al Rahah, reflecting strong lifestyle appeal and liquidity.
Off-plan primary activity was more dynamic with new project launches reshaping the list of top-performing communities. New entrants, including Fahid Island, Ghantout, Al Maryah Island, and Ramhan Island, signal strong developer confidence, while established communities such as Al Saadiyat Island and Yas Island continued to feature prominently, maintaining their leadership in off-plan performance.