Dubai Real Estate Market Sales performance - October 2025

The market's sustained strength enabled 2025 to surpass the entire full-year record set in 2024-a historic achievement positioning Dubai as a premier global real estate powerhouse.

Despite a modest 4.4% decline in transaction volume and 4.7% decrease in value compared to October 2024, Dubai's property market demonstrated remarkable resilience in October 2025, marking the culmination of the strongest decade of real estate sales in the emirate's history.

Real Estate Market Overview in Dubai: Record-Breaking October Performance

• Total Sales Volume: 19,875 transactions.

• Total Sales Value: reaching 58.58 Bil AED

While representing a moderate decline from October 2024's AED 61.49 billion (20,665 transactions), this performance must be contextualized within an unprecedented annual achievement: the cumulative value of property sales for 2025 reached AED 559.4 billion by October end—surpassing the previous full-year record of AED 522.1 billion established in 2024.

With just two months remaining, 2025 is poised to become the most active and valuable year in Dubai real estate history. The cumulative 10-month total of 177,044 transactions worth AED 553.74 billion demonstrates that even a modest October performance cannot diminish the significance of 2025's extraordinary achievement.

The October moderation reflects natural market cyclicality following the exceptionally strong Q3 2025, which itself set new quarterly records. However, daily transaction data through October 31st continued to demonstrate healthy market activity, with consistent deal flow and strong participation across residential, commercial, and luxury segments.​

Segment Performance Breakdown - Off-Plan Surge Drives Value Growth

Off-Plan Properties - transactions dominance continues

Off-plan properties demonstrated exceptional growth in October 2025, despite a slight contraction in transaction volume. With 13,097 deals worth AED 48.64 billion, off-plan properties accounted for 66.3% of total transaction volume but represented an impressive 83.0% of total sales value. Year-over-year analysis reveals a striking divergence: while off-plan transaction volume declined modestly by 2.3%, the segment's value surged dramatically by 76.9%—the strongest value growth metric across all property segments for the month.

Ready Properties - Value Surge

Ready properties recorded 6,367 transactions valued at AED 8.56 billion, representing 32.2% of transaction volume and 14.6% of total value. Ready properties showed solid year-over-year volume growth of 22.3%, indicating sustained end-user and investor demand for completed, immediately available properties. However, value declined by 15.7% year-over-year, suggesting that while more ready property transactions were completed, they involved lower-priced units or smaller properties compared to October 2024.

This segment split reveals a market bifurcation: premium new developments command higher prices, while the secondary ready property market attracts volume-driven transactions at more moderate price points—a healthy market dynamic reflecting diverse buyer segments.

The preference for off-plan properties reflects buyers' strategic approach to capitalizing on Dubai's future growth trajectory.

Check out our research article on key considerations for buying off-plan vs ready properties in Dubai.

Geographic Performance: Key Districts Drive Activity

Business Bay maintained its dominance as the top-performing area, with consistent transaction volumes reflecting its premium positioning and central location. Recent high-value transactions, including the AED 86.6 million Volante 2 apartment, underscore the district's strong appeal to ultra-high-net-worth buyers and institutional investors. Business Bay's waterfront location, proximity to DIFC, and sophisticated infrastructure continue to drive premium pricing and sustained investment flows.​

Palm Jumeirah emerged as another key performance driver, with multiple ultra-premium transactions highlighting the island's luxury positioning. The AED 52 million sale of a Passo by Beyond apartment and sustained villa transactions on the island reflect investor appetite for iconic waterfront properties.​

Palm Deira continued attracting significant activity, with multiple plots exceeding AED 90 million demonstrating strong developer and investor interest in this major expansion zone. The projects underway and planned developments position Palm Deira as a critical growth engine for Dubai's future real estate supply.​

Emerging areas including Dubai Investment Park Second, Meydan District 11, and newer communities continued attracting activity, as developers launched new projects and buyers sought value opportunities in well-positioned emerging neighborhoods.

The percentage movement of overall transactions value by property type in October:

Apartments 3.4 %

Apartments remained the market's cornerstone, accounting for 16,238 transactions worth AED 31 billion in October-a 3.4% year-over-year increase in transaction volume.

Villas and Townhouses -36.8 %

Villa sales experienced significant contraction, declining 36.8% in volume to just 2,549 deals, though still commanding substantial value at AED 15.5 billion.

Commercial properties 61.7 %

Commercial properties recorded the most dramatic growth, with 689 transactions representing a 61.7% year-over-year increase—the highest growth rate across all segments.

Land plots 23.9 %

Plots demonstrated exceptional growth momentum, with 399 land acquisitions generating AED 11 billion in value—a 23.9% year-over-year increase.

Financing Trends: Mixed Mortgage Activity

Mortgage-backed transactions in October 2025 recorded 3,999 deals valued at AED 15.98 billion, maintaining strong financing activity despite overall market moderation. This substantial mortgage volume—representing approximately 20.2% of total transaction value-demonstrates continued lender confidence and buyer access to favorable financing terms.

Dubai provides a mix of advantages for foreign investors aiming to enter the property market, such as:

• Freehold property ownership and Zero property tax

• Zero personal income tax or capital gains tax, or withholding tax

• lowest corporate income tax rate of 9%

• 100% foreign business ownership

• 100% repatriation of capital investment and total profit earned

• 10-year investor Golden Visa

• Investor-friendly policies providing foreign investment protection

• One of the world’s top tourist centers

Latest news and initiatives

Dubai Land Department unveils ‘Digital Sale’ service on Dubai Now app at GITEX Global 2025

The service offers a completely remote, end-to-end experience that begins with the electronic creation of the sale contract, which the seller signs and sends to the buyer via the platform for completion. The buyer transfers the payment to the service’s dedicated account, after which the ownership certificate is instantly issued in the buyer’s name through the application. This delivers a seamless digital experience that simplifies procedures while ensuring the highest levels of security and reliability. To ensure seamless completion of Digital Sale transactions through the Dubai Now application, the DLD outlined a set of essential requirements. Both the buyer and seller must hold a valid Emirates ID and have an active UAE Pass account that enables verified digital signatures. The property must be located within freehold areas, categorised as a residential unit, commercial unit, or residential townhouse, with a bank account inside the UAE, free of any mortgage, and owned by a single owner.

DLD, Emirates NBD redefine tenant experience with Next-Gen Digital Solutions

This collaboration establishes an infrastructure that supports the digital transformation of leasing services, ensuring transparency in transactions and ease of payment. Under this agreement, both parties will collaborate to enhance the tenant journey through DLD’s smart application and online portal, while also providing digital financial products.

Alpha Dhabi Holding today announced the sale of its entire shareholding (8.50 percent) in Modon Holding to L’imad Holding Company, a wholly owned entity of the Abu Dhabi Government.

Sharjah’s real estate sector has witnessed a qualitative leap in harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) tools to enhance decision-making processes for investors, buyers, and sellers alike, while improving data and price transparency across the market. Majd AlZaiem, Executive Director at Al Marwan Development, underscored the growing importance of AI in real estate and property development. He revealed that the company launched the “District 11” project, the first in the UAE to be designed using artificial intelligence. Upon its completion in 2029, it will be the first project to be fully operated and managed by AI. The development will comprise 11 buildings spanning a total area of 3.5 million square feet.

Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) today announced the signing of a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Technology Innovation Institute, VentureOne, Finstreet Limited, ADI DLT Foundation, and Advanced Real Estate Services. By integrating blockchain with existing property databases and digital identity systems, the initiative will improve data accuracy, accelerate transaction workflows, and offer greater visibility into ownership records, ultimately fostering trust and confidence across the market.

Conclusion

Dubai's real estate market in October 2025 exemplifies a market that has achieved scale, liquidity, and resilience while maintaining appreciation potential. The achievement of surpassing the previous full-year record with two months still remaining positions 2025 as a defining year in Dubai's real estate history. For investors and stakeholders, this period affirms the emirate's continued appeal as a premier global real estate investment destination offering diverse opportunities, strong returns, and institutional-grade market fundamentals.

Source: Dubai Land Department; DXB Interact, Dubai Media Office