Dubai's residential property market is showing resilience with a substantial 38% increase in new home completions during the first half of 2026. Despite a general cooling of transaction activities and a decrease in deal volumes, off-plan sales continue to dominate the market, constituting nearly 75% of all transactions. Apartments remain the most favored property type, making up approximately 84% of sales, with key off-plan locations like Dubai South and Jumeirah Village Circle, and ready locations such as Jumeirah Village Circle and Business Bay. The market is transitioning to a new cycle, influenced by factors like reduced property launches and regional uncertainties, though fundamental demand drivers remain intact.

Dubai's residential property market is showing resilience with a substantial 38% increase in new home completions during the first half of 2026. Despite a general cooling of transaction activities and a decrease in deal volumes, off-plan sales continue to dominate the market, constituting nearly 75% of all transactions. Apartments remain the most favored property type, making up approximately 84% of sales, with key off-plan locations like Dubai South and Jumeirah Village Circle, and ready locations such as Jumeirah Village Circle and Business Bay. The market is transitioning to a new cycle, influenced by factors like reduced property launches and regional uncertainties, though fundamental demand drivers remain intact.

Dubai's residential property market is showing resilience with a substantial 38% increase in new home completions during the first half of 2026. Despite a general cooling of transaction activities and a decrease in deal volumes, off-plan sales continue to dominate the market, constituting nearly 75% of all transactions. Apartments remain the most favored property type, making up approximately 84% of sales, with key off-plan locations like Dubai South and Jumeirah Village Circle, and ready locations such as Jumeirah Village Circle and Business Bay. The market is transitioning to a new cycle, influenced by factors like reduced property launches and regional uncertainties, though fundamental demand drivers remain intact.

The first half of 2026 saw Dubai completing over 24,800 new homes, with a 38 per cent increase compared with the same period last year. This comes amid reports that despite a cooling of transaction activities, caused by geopolitical tensions, the residential property market is resilient.

Though this is only a 12 per cent rise in the second half of 2025, the uptick comes after transaction values in Dubai eased 55 per cent between December 2025 and May 2026. During this period, the number of delivered-property deals went down 49 per cent and off-plan sales down 58 per cent.

According to a report by Cavendish Maxwell, Middle East’s prominent property consultants, a total of 28,000 homes were  launched across 124 developments during the first six months of the year, compared with 102,000 units across 410 launches in H1 2025.

The report added that off-plan sales remained the dominant part  of the market, accounting for almost 75 per cent of all transactions. Residential sales values totalled AED221.4bn ($60.3bn) during the first half of the year.

Ronan Arthur, director, Head of Residential Valuations at Cavendish Maxwell, said: “Dubai’s residential market is showing clear signs of transitioning to a new cycle following exceptional levels of activity over the last two years. The fundamentals that drive real estate demand in the emirate remain intact, but the near-term outlook is being shaped by a combination of factors, including the impact of fewer launches, regional uncertainty and a broader normalisation in buyer activity, that are likely to influence transaction levels and price performance.”

The report added apartments remained the most popular property type, representing around 84 per cent of transactions across both off-plan and ready markets.

The top off-plan apartment locations include Dubai South (7,306), Dubai Residence Complex (3,408) and Jumeirah Village Circle (3,055) while top ready apartment locations include Jumeirah Village Circle (1,812) and Business Bay (1,065).

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