Dubai closed September 2025 with 20,127 property sales (+11.3% YoY) and AED 54.3B in transaction value (+21.2% YoY). Price momentum remained firm with AED 1,688/sqft (+9.7% YoY). The story of the month:

• Off-plan apartments powered volumes;
• Ready villas held up while off-plan villas cooled sharply;
• Plots and off-plan commercial surged;
• Mortgages fell, signaling a cash- and developer-plan-led market.

 

Market Highlights

• Total Market: 20,127 sales (+11.3%), AED 54.3B (+21.2%), avg. AED 1,688/sqft (+9.7%).
• Off-plan (1st sale): 14,932 sales (+14.8%), AED 36.6B (+21.0%), AED 1,761/sqft (+4.2%).
• Resale: 5,195 sales (+2.3%), AED 17.6B (+21.8%), AED 1,474/sqft (+10.5%).

 

By Property Type (volume / YoY / value):

• Apartments (total): 17,112 (+20.5%) | AED 31.8B

  • Off-plan: 13,346 (+27.6%) | AED 24.9B
  • Resale: 3,766 (+0.6%) | AED 6.9B

• Villas (total): 2,061 (–36.8%) | AED 12.3B

  • Off-plan: 1,095 (–53.4%) | AED 6.0B
  • Resale: 966 (+6.0%) | AED 6.2B

• Commercial (total): 514 (+46.0%) | AED 1.5B

  • Off-plan: 259 (+245.3%) | AED 744.5M
  • Resale: 255 (–7.9%) | AED 771.6M

• Plots: 439 (+66.3%) | AED 8.7B

  • Off-plan +95% volume I AED 5.0B;
  • Resale +42.8% I AED 3.7B)

• Buildings: 1 resale (–50%) | AED 12M

 

Prices & Rents

Sale Prices (Median / YoY):

• Off-plan Apartment: AED 1.28M (–4.6%) — higher psf (+4.2%) with smaller average sizes.
• Off-plan Villa: AED 4.33M (+49.9%) — ticket sizes skewing up despite softer volumes.
• Off-plan Commercial: AED 2.23M (+43.0%).
• Off-plan Plot: AED 7.50M (+25.0%).
• Resale Apartment: AED 1.18M (+12.4%).
• Resale Villa: AED 3.80M (+11.8%).
• Resale Commercial: AED 1.60M (+7.7%).
• Resale Plot: AED 6.50M (+32.7%).

Price per Sqft (YoY):

• Off-plan: Apartments +4.2%, Villas +6.7%, Commercial +39.1%, Plots +164.9%.
• Resale: Apartments +10.5%, Villas +15.7%, Commercial +11.7%, Plots +31.4%.

Rents (Median / YoY):

• Apartments: AED 87K (+6.1%)
• Villas: AED 190K (+5.6%)
• Commercial: AED 75K (+10.3%)
  Implication: Yield support persists; apartment yields holding better than villa yields as villa prices outpace rents.

 

Demand Map — Top Performing Areas (by volume)

Off-plan Apartments:

• JVC (1,591)
• Al Barsha South 2 (1,280)
• Business Bay (1,017)
• DIP Second (843)
• Wadi Al Safa 5 (663)

Off-plan Villas:

• Al Yelayiss 1 (248)
• DIP Second (198)
• Dubai South (190) 
• Al Yufrah 1 (106)
• Madinat Hind 4 (96)

Off-plan Commercial:

• Wadi Al Safa 3 (62)
• JVC (55)
• Business Bay (31)
• Motor City (24)
• Wadi Al Safa 5 (17)

Off-plan Plots:

• Dubai Hills Estate (24)
• Wadi Al Safa 5 (19)
• Nad Al Shiba 1 (19)
• Al Warsan 3 (15)
• Palm Jumeirah (15)

Resale Apartments:

• JVC (423)
• Dubai Marina (319)
• Business Bay (293) 
• Downtown (205)
• Al Merkadh (188)

Resale Villas:

• Al Hebiah Fifth (116)
• Wadi Al Safa 5 (97)
• Dubai South (68)
• Emirates Living (51)
• Wadi Al Safa 7 (50)

Resale Commercial:

• Business Bay (87)
• Al Thanyah Fifth (65)
• International City (35)
• Al Thanyah First (14)
• Nadd Hessa (8)

Resale Plots:

• Saih Shuaib 1 (42)
• DIP Second (9)
• Jabal Ali First (8)
• Al Merkadh (8)
• DIP First (7)

 

“Big Ticket” — Top Areas by sales value

Off-plan Apartments:

• Business Bay (AED 2.2B)
• Mina Rashid (AED 1.7B)
• JVC (AED 1.7B)
• Trade Center 2 (AED 1.7B)
• Al Barsha South 2 (AED 1.6B)

Off-plan Villas:

• DIP Second (AED 1.4B)
• Dubai South (AED 845M)
• Al Yelayiss 1 (AED 767M)
• Al Yufrah 1 (AED 634M)
• World Islands (AED 400M)

Off-plan Plots:

• Business Bay (AED 822M)
• Dubai Hills Estate (AED 612M)
• Jabal Ali First (AED 463M)
• Nad Al Shiba 1 (AED 336M)
• Mankhool (AED 268M)

Resale Apartments:

• Dubai Marina (AED 967M)
• Downtown (AED 872M)
• Business Bay (AED 581M)
• Palm Jumeirah (AED 559M)
• JVC (AED 411M)

Resale Villas:

• Palm Jumeirah (AED 877M)
• Wadi Al Safa 5 (AED 420M)
• Al Thanyah Fifth (AED 396M)
• Al Hebiah Fifth (AED 391M)
• Sports City (AED 320M)

Resale Plots:

• Dubai Islands (AED 300.5M)
• Al Jadaf (AED 238.5M)
• Wadi Al Safa 3 (AED 221.5M)
• DIP Second (AED 193.8M)
• Saih Shuaib 1 (AED 169.1M)

 

Project Leaderboard

Best-selling off-plan apartments:

• Damac Riverside (836 / AED 1.1B)
• Binghatti Hillviews (544 / AED 607M)
• Binghatti Skyrise (318 / AED 578M)
• Binghatti Aquarise (305 / AED 513M)
• Chelsea Residences by Damac (268 / AED 754M)

Best-selling off-plan villas:

• Damac Islands – Seychelles 2 (176 / AED 532M)
• Dubai World Central (167 / AED 748M)
• Grand Polo – Selvara 4 (75 / AED 516M)
• The Valley – Farm Grove (58 / AED 295M)
• Grand Polo – Selvara 3 (51 / AED 358M)

Top resale apartment hubs:

• Azizi Riviera (85 / AED 77.8M)
• Elite Sports Residence (75 / AED 42.2M)
• Mediterranean Cluster (33 / AED 19.3M)
• Sobha Hartland – The Crest (32 / AED 67.1M)
• Barton House (30 / AED 20.6M)

Top resale villas:

• Rukan 3 (22 / AED 29.7M)
• Maha Townhouses (19 / AED 56.3M)
• Mudon Al Ranim 1 (18 / AED 61.5M)
• The Pulse Beachfront 3 (17 / AED 77.8M)
• The Villa (15 / AED 119M)

Highest apartment sales (price tags):

• Aman Residences (AED 83.5M)
• Casa Canal (AED 82.2M)
• The Alba Residences (AED 70.2M)
• Royal Atlantis (AED 63.5M)
• Address Grand Downtown (AED 60.7M)

Highest villa sales:

• World Islands (AED 200M)
• Jumeirah Second (AED 185M)
• Palm Jumeirah (AED 115M)
• Al Merkadh (AED 110M)
• Wadi Al Safa 3 (AED 44.8M)

 

Price Bands — Where demand clustered (units, % of segment)

• Off-plan Apartments: 1–2M (6,351; ~majority), then <1M (3,600). Premium (3–5M: 969; >5M: 489) showing depth.
• Off-plan Villas: Luxury-skewed — >5M (464) leads, then 3–5M (247) and 2–3M (243).
• Resale Apartments: Broad mid-market — <1M (1,609) and 1–2M (1,156) dominate.
• Resale Villas: Even spread across 2–3M (235), 3–5M (332), >5M (318).

(Percentages in source list look placeholder-low vs totals; we reference volumes for accuracy.)

 

Financing Pulse — Mortgages

• Mortgage value: AED 12.1B (–24.1% YoY)
• Mortgage transactions: 3,795 (–9% YoY)

Read-through: Lower mortgage share and strong off-plan uptake point to cash buyers + developer payment plans carrying 1st-sale volumes.

 

Momentum & Seasonality

• Off-plan apartments climbed month-on-month through Q3, peaking in September (13.5k).
• Off-plan villas fell sharply from early-year highs; September 1,095 stabilizes after August dip.
• Resale apartments stayed resilient (September 3,771, +9.1% MoM from August).
• Preliminary October tallies are lower across categories (partial-month effect) — not trend breaks.

 

Multi-Year Context (September snapshots)

• Off-plan Apartments: 2014→2025 volume 1,092 → 13,501 (+1,237%), value AED 1.6B → 25.1B (+1,469%).
• Resale Apartments: 2014→2025 volume 1,309 → 3,771 (+188%), value AED 1.9B → 6.9B (+263%).
• Off-plan Villas: cyclical; 2025 volume –53% YoY but median price +49.9% (mix shift to higher-ticket).
• Plots: volumes/value rebounded strongly in 2025 (volume +66% YoY; value AED 8.7B), with off-plan plots leading.

 

What This Means (DXBinteract read-through)

1) Apartments = demand engine.

Off-plan apartments continue to compound volume and value; developer pipelines and sub-AED 2M price points dominate absorption.

2) Villas bifurcating.

Off-plan villa volumes cooled (–53.4% YoY), but ticket sizes jumped; resale villas improved in both volume (+6%) and value (+21.9%), signaling end-user and upgrader depth at ready communities.

3) Land & commercial are back.

Plots (+66.3% vol) reflect bullish medium-term development, while off-plan commercial (+245% vol) shows confidence in SME and strata office/retail concepts.

4) Cash-led cycle.

Falling mortgage activity vs rising sales implies cash and developer plans steering the market; watch yields (rents still rising) and psf momentum for the sustainability check.

 

Strategy Playbook

For Buyers

• End-users (apartments): Prioritize JVC, Al Barsha South, DIP Second, Wadi Al Safa 5, Business Bay for depth, handover pipelines, and rent support.
• Villas: Consider ready stock in Al Hebiah Fifth, Wadi Al Safa clusters, Emirates Living where resale liquidity is healthy and rents are rising ~6%.
• Investors (yield focus): Favor resale apartments in JVC, Dubai Marina, Business Bay with 12-month rent growth and strong secondary liquidity.

For Sellers

• Apartments: Price to the 1–2M sweet spot to maximize enquiries; data shows it’s the demand bulk.
• Villas: Lean on YoY median gains and area-specific comps; premium product still clears if guided by recent benchmarks.
• Landholders: With plots value AED 8.7B, now is prime to test the market—especially in Dubai Hills Estate, Nad Al Shiba 1, Jabal Ali First.

For Agents

• Lead with evidence: psf gains, rent growth, and area leaderboards build conviction.
• Map clients to payment-plan vs mortgage paths early (mortgage share down).
• Track project velocity (Damac Riverside, Binghatti launches, Chelsea Residences) to place buyers into momentum inventories.

 

 

8k