Dubai, UAE — Dubai recorded about AED 625 billion ($170 billion) of property deals in the first 10 months of 2026, the largest share of the UAE property market, official data showed.
The Dubai total covered 181,866 deals between January and October, Arabian Business reported. Abu Dhabi’s transaction value rose 76.1% to AED 171.26 billion in the first nine months, and Sharjah’s rose 5.6% to AED 46.8 billion.
The emirates report over different periods, so the UAE property market figures are not a like-for-like ranking. They do show where money is moving. Abu Dhabi grew fastest, driven by foreign buyers, while Dubai remained the largest market by a wide margin. Indians were the biggest group of foreign buyers in Dubai last year. Dubai’s sales in 10 months were worth several times what India’s seven largest cities sold in a quarter.
Dubai Sales Reach AED 412 Billion, Mortgages AED 164 Billion
Sales made up about AED 411.98 billion of Dubai’s 10-month total, according to the land department. Mortgages accounted for about AED 164 billion and gifts for about AED 49 billion.
The 10-month value is already about 68% of Dubai’s total for all of 2025, according to Emirates 24|7. The department has not published a comparison with the same 10 months of 2025.
Construction has also picked up. Dubai completed 104 projects worth more than AED 111 billion in the first half of 2026, against 75 projects worth AED 73 billion a year earlier. More completions add to the stock of homes for rent, at a time when CBRE put Dubai rents 7% lower in the third quarter than a year earlier.
Also read: Abu Dhabi Real Estate Transactions Jump 76% To AED 171bn In 9 Months
Abu Dhabi Doubles Sales As Foreign Money Rises 131%
Abu Dhabi was the fastest-growing UAE property market. Its sales more than doubled in value, rising 105% to AED 119.33 billion across 23,749 deals, data from the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre showed. The number of transactions rose 32.8% to 38,483.
Foreign investment in the emirate’s designated investment zones rose 131% to AED 86.11 billion, or 81% of investment in those areas. Non-resident individuals invested AED 17.22 billion in nine months, more than twice their AED 8.2 billion for all of 2025.
Sharjah, the third-largest UAE property market by value, grew more slowly. Its transaction count rose 14% to 91,560, and it drew 9,891 new investors from 130 nationalities. Sales totalled AED 35 billion across 24,749 deals.
The smaller emirates report shorter periods. Ras Al Khaimah recorded about AED 2.89 billion of transactions in the first half, and Ajman recorded AED 1.95 billion in October alone.
Dubai’s 10-Month Sales Against India’s Rs 1.55 Lakh Crore Quarter
At about 25.65 rupees to the dirham, Dubai’s AED 412 billion of sales comes to about Rs 10.6 lakh crore, by Invest Dubai Today’s calculation. In India’s seven largest cities, homes worth about Rs 1.55 lakh crore were sold in the July-September quarter, according to property consultancy Anarock. That was up 2% from a year earlier, on sales of 1,00,220 units.
The two series measure different things. Dubai’s figure covers all property sales over 10 months, including land and commercial units, while Anarock’s covers new homes in seven cities over one quarter.
Indians made up 22% of Dubai home buyers in 2025, the largest share, according to Anarock. The dirham has gained about 4.7% against the rupee this year, which raises the rupee cost of the same Dubai purchase. Transfers from India fall under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, capped at USD 250,000 per person a year, with 20% tax collected at source above Rs 10 lakh.
Uneven Periods, Rising Supply And The Year-End Numbers
The main limit of the data is that it does not show prices. Higher transaction values can come from more deals, bigger deals or both. Mortgages and gifts are also included in the headline totals, so the UAE property market 2026 figures overstate fresh buying.
Supply is the other risk. Cavendish Maxwell expects 136,100 homes to be completed in Dubai in 2027, which could weigh further on rents.
Full-year figures from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, expected early next year, will allow the first like-for-like comparison of the UAE property market in 2026 with 2025. They will also show whether non-resident buying in Abu Dhabi keeps growing.
For investors, the UAE property market in 2026 shows rising deal values across the main emirates, with Abu Dhabi growing fastest from a smaller base. End-users in Dubai face more completed homes and softer rents. For Indian buyers, a weaker rupee has made the same Dubai home more expensive this year, even as the market’s volume has grown.
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