Dubai Real Estate Market Report

April, 2026 Analysis

Fateh Almsaddi, The Founder of DXBinteract

21, Oct 2026

Key takeaways

Dubai recorded 14,045 property sales worth AED 48.24 billion in April 2026, across all property types, according to DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records. Transaction count fell 21.7% year on year, while the median price per sqft rose 14.2% to AED 1,796. Developer sales represented 75.7% of transactions.

Dubai Real Estate Market Report · April 2026

Dubai sales fell 22% in April 2026

AED 48.24 billion in sales across all property types; the median price was AED 1,796/sqft.

By Fateh Al Msaddi, Founder, DXBinteract

Updated 2026-10-16 · Data retrieved 2026-10-16

Dubai, April 2026; all property types. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
MetricStored figureYear-on-year change / basis
Sales transactions14,045-21.7%
Sales valueAED 48.24 billion-22.8%
Median sale price per sqftAED 1,796/sqft+14.2%
Primary share of sales count75.7%All property types
Primary share of sales value74.7%All property types

Dubai recorded 14,045 property sales worth AED 48.24 billion in April 2026, across all property types, according to DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records. Transaction count fell 21.7% year on year, while the median price per sqft rose 14.2% to AED 1,796. Developer sales represented 75.7% of transactions.

Sales value fell 22.8% year on year

The median price per sqft rose despite fewer transactions and lower traded value. April’s figures describe a thinner transaction market at a higher median unit rate, rather than uniform gains across Dubai homes.

April 2026 versus the same period in 2025; all property types. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
Metric2026Same period 2025Change
Sales count14,04517,942-21.7%
Sales value (AED)48,242,318,88762,459,783,782-22.8%
Median AED/sqft1,7961,573+14.2%

Sales count rose 4.0% from March 2026

In Dubai, April 2026 sales count rose 4.0% against March 2026, across all property types; sales value rose 11.2%, and the median price per sqft rose 4.1%. These are comparisons of stored period snapshots. Seasonal patterns and the mix of transactions can affect period-to-period changes.

Developer purchases account for 75.7% of sales

Dubai developer sales numbered 10,631 in April 2026, or 75.7% of all-property-type transactions, according to DXBinteract analysis of DLD records. Resales numbered 3,414. Primary means bought directly from a developer; it is not a synonym for off-plan, and resales can include homes still under construction.

Dubai primary and resale, April 2026; all property types. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
Sales channelCountCount shareValue (AED)Value shareMedian AED/sqft
Primary10,63175.7%36,022,505,31774.7%1,876
Resale3,41424.3%12,219,813,57025.3%1,546

Apartment sales lead with 11,425 transactions

Dubai recorded 11,425 apartment sales in April 2026, the largest count among the property categories in this report. Category medians describe the properties sold; they are not valuations of an unchanged home.

Dubai property categories, April 2026. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
CategorySales countSales value (AED)Median sale price (AED)Median AED/sqftSales-count YoY
Apartment11,42524,124,975,6031,450,0001,838-16.6%
Building452,912,6461,198,0831,115No comparable category baseline
Commercial5623,980,695,7913,196,6803,498+34.1%
Plot2316,685,194,4967,000,000679-40.9%
Villa1,82313,398,540,3514,800,0001,553-46.9%

Categories with fewer than 50 sales have small samples: their medians can move sharply when the mix changes. Total medians are calculated for the full population; they are not averages of category medians.

Business Bay leads the reported area ranking by value

Dubai’s April 2026 area table puts Business Bay first by sales value at AED 3.45 billion, for apartments, villas and commercial property only. This ranking excludes townhouses, plots and buildings, so its values and counts are not the basis for shares of the all-property headline.

Top reported DLD areas by value, April 2026; apartments, villas and commercial only. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
RankArea as recordedSales value (AED)
1Business Bay3,453,363,032
2Dubai Islands2,811,893,170
3Saih Shuaib 12,143,600,850
4Dubai South1,931,894,986
5Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid1,882,104,096
Top reported DLD areas by count, April 2026; apartments, villas and commercial only. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
RankArea as recordedSales count
1Dubai South1,157
2Jabal Ali First881
3Al Barsha South Fourth830
4Wadi Al Safa 5810
5Dubai Islands732

Area names are reproduced as recorded. A DLD land district can contain several communities; the figures have not been reassigned to a narrower community name.

New apartment leases have a median annual rent of AED 65,000

Dubai recorded 9,920 new apartment rental contracts in April 2026, with median annual rent of AED 65,000; 14,831 apartment renewals had a median of AED 57,750. These are separate groups of recorded contracts, not a measure of the increase faced by an individual renewing tenant.

Dubai recorded rental contracts, April 2026. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
Property typeContract typeCountMedian annual rent (AED)Median annual AED/sqft
ApartmentNew9,92065,00090
ApartmentRenewal14,83157,75071
CommercialNew2,125113,148129
CommercialRenewal3,190100,98395
VillaNew1,257175,00072
VillaRenewal1,545161,00062

The rental section covers the listed apartment, villa and commercial categories. The contract date basis is not specified in the stored report, so rental year-on-year changes are not reproduced here without underlying comparison values. Gross or net rental yields cannot be inferred by dividing unrelated citywide rent and sale medians.

8,688 units launched and 8,026 delivered

Dubai’s April 2026 supply summary records 8,688 launched units across 30 projects and 8,026 delivered units across 29 projects. Source: DXBinteract analysis of DLD records. Launches and deliveries describe different stages of supply; their difference is not unsold inventory.

Dubai supply activity, April 2026. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
StageUnitsProjects
Launched8,68830
Delivered8,02629

Launched units are not necessarily sold in the same period, and delivered units may have sold in earlier years. These figures do not establish an absorption rate or a forecast of future completions.

The highest listed apartment sale was AED 171,036,254

Dubai’s April 2026 notable-sale list is led by an apartment transaction of AED 171,036,254 at Aman Residences Tower 2. The villa list is led by AED 76,000,000 in Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid. These are the highest entries in the supplied lists, not claims about all-time records.

Highest listed apartment sales, April 2026. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
Project as recordedArea as recordedSale price (AED)
Aman Residences Tower 2Jumeirah Second171,036,254
Baccarat Residence T1Downtown Dubai121,841,000
Aman Residences Tower 1Jumeirah Second70,238,323
Highest listed villa sales, April 2026. Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records
Area as recordedSale price (AED)
Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid76,000,000
Wadi Al Safa 375,000,000
Bukadra64,840,575

What these figures mean for buyers, landlords and market observers

Buyers

The Dubai-wide median of AED 1,796/sqft in April 2026 is a context figure. Location, building, condition, size and the sales channel can all differ from this population. A change in the median is not a like-for-like valuation.

Tenants and landlords

New apartment contracts at a median AED 65,000 a year and renewals at AED 57,750 describe different groups. Their gap is not an individual tenant’s rent increase or a property’s net rental yield.

Developers and market observers

Developer purchases represent 75.7% of transaction count, while the supply summary records 8,688 launched units. Transaction counts, launched units and completed units measure different events, so they cannot alone establish how much new supply has been absorbed.

Frequently asked questions

How many properties were sold in Dubai in April 2026?

The stored report records 14,045 sales across all property types in April 2026, worth AED 48.24 billion. The sales count fell 21.7% compared with the same period in 2025.

What was Dubai’s median property price per sqft in April 2026?

The median sale price per sqft was AED 1,796 across all property types. This is a transaction-based median, not an asking price or a measure of every home’s appreciation.

What share of Dubai sales came from developers in April 2026?

Primary purchases numbered 10,631, representing 75.7% of all sales by count. Primary means a purchase from a developer and includes more than off-plan sales.

What were Dubai apartment rents in April 2026?

New apartment contracts had a median annual rent of AED 65,000 across 9,920 contracts; renewals had a median of AED 57,750 across 14,831 contracts. These are separate contract populations.

How many units were launched and delivered in Dubai in April 2026?

The supply summary records 8,688 launched units and 8,026 delivered units. Launches and deliveries are different stages and do not measure unsold stock.

Methodology and definitions

Source: DXBinteract analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records.

Figures are taken from the stored April 2026 report, retrieved on 2026-10-16. The retrieval date is not a confirmed registration cutoff. Sales count, value and median AED/sqft in the headline cover every property type. Area rankings and the historical series cover apartments, villas and commercial property only; they exclude townhouses, plots and buildings.

Sales are recorded transactions rather than listings or asking prices. Values are in AED and areas in sqft. Primary is a purchase directly from a developer; resale is a secondary-market purchase. Neither category establishes construction status. A median is the middle recorded value and cannot be averaged across segments.

Year-on-year sales comparisons, where shown, are recalculated from the corresponding stored 2025 and 2026 period rows on the same property-type basis. Monthly changes use the previous stored month and quarterly changes use the previous stored quarter. Figures may be revised as registrations and stored snapshots change; separately rounded category or channel values can differ slightly from totals.

The 2026 yearly row is incomplete and lacks a precise cutoff. No annual year-on-year percentage, full-year record claim, matched-window historical ranking or annualised forecast is asserted. Rental percentage changes are omitted where prior raw values or date definitions are not supplied. Named supply-project forecasts and rental yields are omitted because this report does not establish their basis.

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