Real estate

The Dubai Rental Market Shift

How Dubai rental activity, prices, and areas changed before and after 28 February 2026.

What the report covers

Executive summary
Monthly activity, same-month volume and value, median rent, rent per sq. ft., and renewal share after the cutoff.
How to read the change
Why a raw 12-month versus 7-month total misleads, and the three comparisons the report uses instead.
February to March 2026
The first month after the cutoff, split by new contracts, renewals, usage, and rent.
Was March a break?
Monthly volume from March 2025 to September 2026, and the same months a year earlier.
Rents or mix
Median rent, residential rent, commercial share, and rent per sq. ft. through the window.
Rent bands, renewals, and segments
Whether activity moved between rent bands, who drove it, and how residential, commercial, and property types moved.
Homes, ownership, and lease length
Unit types, freehold and other ownership, tenant type, and whether leases got shorter.
Areas and projects
The largest areas, gainers and decliners, share shifts, and projects with at least 250 contracts in both periods.
Conclusions
Five answers: did activity change, did rents move, was it new leases or renewals, which areas drove it, and was March temporary.