Dubai Freehold Rental Market Poised for Record Year as Contracts Surge

The Dubai freehold rental market is demonstrating robust growth, with a new analysis revealing that the pace of new and renewed contracts is escalating towards a potential all-time record year. In August, a total of 39,645 rental contracts were registered across Dubai’s freehold zones, marking a 3.79% month-on-month increase.

Rental Market Performance

The volume of new rental contracts climbed by 19.4% year-on-year to reach 20,611, while renewals saw a 4.4% year-on-year increase, totaling 19,034. This momentum has pushed the cumulative number of freehold rental contracts recorded for the first eight months of 2026 to 257,284. This represents a 5.5% increase compared to the same period in 2025, a year that established a full-year record of 377,944 registered contracts.

Al Warsan First emerged as the leading area for freehold rentals to date this year, recording 23,894 tenancy contracts. The market also showed a consistent preference for apartments, with 105,880 (41%) tenancy contracts registered for one-bedroom units.

Sales Market Snapshot

Beyond rentals, Dubai's sales market also saw strong activity. Data from DXBinteract indicates that 12,018 sales transactions were recorded last month, valued at AED 28.6 billion. Off-plan sales significantly dominated, accounting for 8,359 transactions worth AED 16.3 billion, compared to 3,659 resale transactions valued at AED 12.4 billion.

Dubai South maintained its position as the top-performing area for off-plan sales volume for the sixth consecutive month, recording 1,908 transactions with a total value of AED 2.3 billion.

In terms of property types, August recorded:

• 9,974 apartment sales worth AED 15.7 billion
• 1,354 villa sales worth AED 7.9 billion
• 183 plot sales valued at AED 2.6 billion
• 420 commercial transactions (offices and shops) worth AED 1.5 billion

The most expensive apartment sold in August was for AED 86 million at The Address, Jumeirah Gate Tower 2 at Jumeirah Beach, while the priciest villa fetched AED 110 million at Signature Villas.

Properties priced below AED 1 million constituted the largest segment of sales at 42.8%. This was followed by 33.2% for properties between AED 1-2 million, 10.9% for AED 2-3 million, 7.25% for AED 3-5 million, and 5.7% for properties over AED 5 million.