Updated 22 September 2026 with full-year 2025 figures.
A record year for Dubai property tells you that a great deal of business took place. It does not tell you whether the apartment you are viewing is priced well. To get from the headline to a buying decision, separate the amount traded, the people participating and the locations involved.
What the full-year figures cover
The Dubai Government Media Office’s 12 January 2026 report records more than 270,000 real estate transactions worth AED 917 billion in 2025. It also reports 3.11 million transactions across a broader group that includes sales, leases and real estate services. These totals cover different things and should not be used interchangeably.
The same report puts the investor base at approximately 193,100, including 129,600 new investors. Resident investors accounted for 56.6% of the total. These are historical 2025 figures, not a measure of today’s prices or a forecast of the next year’s return.
More money traded is not the same as a price increase
Total transaction value can change because more properties are traded, because the mix includes more expensive properties, or because prices change. You cannot identify the contribution of each from one total.
Take a hypothetical example: ten apartments sell for AED 1 million each in one period, then twelve equivalent apartments sell for the same price in the next. The total rises from AED 10 million to AED 12 million, although the price per apartment has not moved. That is why a market-activity headline needs a different reading from a price index.
For a specific home, ask for recent completed sales of comparable properties. Check the building, size, floor, view, condition and transaction date. A neighbourhood average can be useful context, but a much larger or newly refurbished home may be a poor comparison for the one on your shortlist.
Location rankings answer different questions
In the official 2025 report, Al Barsha South Fourth led the ranking by number of real estate transactions. Business Bay led by transaction value, followed by Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah.
A high position by number points to activity. A high position by value can also reflect the size and price of the assets involved. Neither ranking is a list of the best places to buy. Keep the report’s area labels attached to its figures, and confirm that the particular building falls within the area being discussed.
Use our Dubai community guides to build a location shortlist around your commute, preferred setting and type of home. Then compare properties within that shortlist, rather than choosing an address solely because it appears near the top of a market table.
Test the rental case at property level
A broad rental-yield range leaves several questions unanswered. Is the rent an asking figure or an achieved rent? Is the percentage calculated before costs? Does it allow for a vacant period, maintenance, management and service charges?
For a simple gross-yield calculation, divide annual rent by the purchase price. For your ownership budget, go further: include acquisition costs, recurring expenses and any financing payments. Write down each assumption. A percentage without those assumptions is hard to compare and easy to overestimate.
Using a 2025 report for a purchase now
Keep the historical report as background and refresh the evidence that affects the actual purchase: comparable sales, current asking prices, available units and the building’s costs. Dubai Land Department’s real estate transactions service also directs readers to Dubai Pulse for previous-year data.
Our apartment, townhouse and villa comparison helps narrow the property type. When you have a shortlist, send Seven Stones the homes you are considering, your budget and whether you plan to live in the property or rent it out. That gives the discussion a useful starting point: the homes and numbers relevant to you.
