Dubai property deals hit AED 574 billion as mortgages rise

Dubai’s real estate delivery machinery processed 160,500 transactions worth AED 574.2 billion across the first nine months of this year. Behind that headline figure sits a market working through a clear slowdown in volume, alongside one notable area of expansion: mortgage activity.

The contraction was substantial. Overall trading volume fell 14% in value and 21% in transactions compared with the same period last year, when the market recorded AED 668 billion across 202,111 deals. Sales, the largest component, absorbed most of the drop, falling 24% in value to AED 379.4 billion on 123,416 transactions, down 22% from 157,306 deals in the prior year.

Mortgages moved in the opposite direction. Their value rose 14.5% to AED 151.2 billion, up from AED 132.2 billion in 2025, even as the number of mortgage transactions declined 20% to 30,377 from 38,000. Donations increased 9% in value to AED 43.6 billion on 6,692 transactions, down 4% from 7,000 transactions in the same period of 2025.

September’s monthly figures show how the market is currently functioning. Transactions last month reached AED 51 billion across 16,112 deals, distributed among sales worth AED 30 billion on 11,431 transactions, mortgages worth AED 17 billion on 3,881 deals, and gifts worth AED 4.4 billion on 800 deals.

What changed when the nine-month activity is broken down by delivery stage: off-plan transactions totaled AED 189 billion across 85,550 transactions, comprising sales of AED 183.3 billion on 84,100 transactions, mortgages of AED 1.81 billion on 433 transactions, and gifts of AED 3.9 billion from 1,017 transactions. Completed deals, by contrast, generated AED 385.5 billion through 74,950 transactions, made up of sales worth AED 196.1 billion on 39,325 transactions, mortgages worth AED 149.3 billion on 29,950 transactions, and gifts worth AED 40 billion from 5,675 transactions. The completed segment therefore accounts for the clear majority of the market’s value, a sign that ready stock, rather than future supply, is carrying the bulk of current turnover.

Location data points to where execution is concentrated. Airport City led residential unit sales with AED 11 billion across 9,665 deals. In the villa category, Al Yalais 1 recorded the highest sales at AED 11.5 billion through 3,425 transactions, while in land, Ma’isam II topped the list at AED 10.5 billion from 552 transactions.

Mortgage activity clustered elsewhere. Business Bay recorded the highest residential unit mortgages at AED 2 billion through 1,280 deals, and Emirates Hills led villas at AED 1.1 billion through 345 deals. In land, Dubai Waterfront registered AED 11 billion through just 3 deals. Donations were led by Palm Jumeirah in residential units at AED 2.4 billion, while Palm Jumeirah also topped buildings and villas at AED 216 billion, and Emaar Al Janoub led land at AED 15.2 billion.

Taken together, the nine-month record describes a market whose transaction pipeline has thinned considerably year on year, yet whose financing channel has strengthened, with mortgage values climbing even as their transaction count fell. The concentration of value in completed deals and in a short list of high-performing areas suggests that delivery, rather than new sales momentum, is what is currently sustaining Dubai’s real estate turnover. Whether that pattern holds into the final quarter, and whether off-plan volumes recover, will shape the full-year picture.