The Dubai real estate market recorded 37,429 sales transactions worth AED92.9 billion ($25.3 billion) in Q3 as primary sales from developers continued to outpace resales, and the rental sector remained on track to set an all-time record, said a report by UAE group fäm Properties , adding Dubai South lead the off-plan sales for seventh consecutive month.
The market analysis from fäm Properties revealed that the primary market delivered 25,441 third quarter sales worth AED52.6 billion compared with 11,988 resales valued at AED40.3 billion.
Just over 67% of all secondary market sales transactions were made in cash in Q3, which culminated in September with some notable month-on-month increases in sales volumes, as well as rentals.
Plot sales for last month were up 28.8% month-on-month to 237 valued at AED3.8 billion, commercial transactions, including offices and shops rose 27.7% to 539 worth AED2.2 billion, while villa sales increased by 3.9% to 1,428 at AED8.6 billion. The month also brought 9,055 apartment sales worth AED 14.8 billion.
Data from DXBinteract meanwhile shows that 48,639 rental contracts were registered across Dubai’s freehold areas in September, a 22.6% MoM increase. The volume of new contracts climbed 25.6% YoY to 25,345, while renewals increased by 7.6% YoY to 23,294.
This takes the total number of freehold rental contracts recorded for the first nine months in 2026 to 298,984, a 6.8% increase on the same period in 2025 which ultimately set a full-year record of 377,926 registered contracts, it stated.
“The figures show that Dubai’s primary sector remains the main driver of sales activity, while the resale market continues to attract significant cash investment,’ said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties.
“At the same time, the rental figures point to sustained demand across the established freehold sector. Taken together, the data shows a market that remains active, but with different segments moving at different rates,” he added.
The most expensive villa sold in September went for AED260 million at Eome, while the most expensive apartment was sold for AED71 million at Como Residences at Palm Jumeirah.
For a seventh consecutive month, Dubai South was the emirate’s best-performing area in primary market sales volume, recording 737 off-plan transactions worth AED980.5 million.
With properties worth more than AED5 million accounting for 8.3% of sales, 10.3% were between AED3-5 million, 14.6% between AED2-3 million, 32.4% between AED1-2 million and 34.1% were below AED1 million.
The leading area of Dubai in freehold rentals in the first nine months of this year is Al Warsan First, with 28,825 registered tenancy contracts. Underlining a consistent apartments preference in the market, 124,113 (42%) of tenancy contracts registered were for one-bedroom units.