Dubai property, explained › Buying
Off-plan or resale
A home bought from the developer before it is built, against a home with a title deed and a tenant’s footprints in it: how the money, the paperwork and the risk differ.
Written September 2026 · 4 min read
Dubai sells homes two ways. Off-plan, you buy from the developer before the building exists, pay by instalments as it rises, and take the keys at handover. Resale, the secondary market, "ready" in the adverts, you buy a completed home from its owner, pay on the day, and can move in or let it that week. The same community can offer both at once, often across the road from each other, and the two prices are rarely the same. This is how the money, the paperwork and the risk differ, so that the comparison can be made on the same terms.
Side by side
| Off-plan | Resale | |
|---|---|---|
| You buy from | The developer | The owner, through an agent |
| You pay | By instalments on a plan: a booking deposit, then construction milestones, sometimes a share after handover | In full on completion day, with a deposit at the contract |
| The money sits in | A RERA-supervised escrow account, drawn against certified progress | The seller's hands, on the day |
| Registered as | Oqood, the interim register, until handover | A title deed, in your name that afternoon |
| DLD fee | 4%, at registration; some developers pay it as an incentive | 4%, at transfer, paid by the buyer |
| Mortgage | At most 50% of the price, by Central Bank rule; usually taken at handover, if at all | Up to 80% for an expatriate's first home under AED 5,000,000 |
| Commission | Usually none to the buyer; the developer pays the agent | Conventionally 2% + VAT, paid by the buyer |
| You can see | A plan, a show apartment, a site | The home, the building, the view, the neighbours |
| It earns | Nothing until handover | Rent from the first month, if let |
| Exit before the end | Assignment, with the developer's consent, after a minimum paid share | A sale, any time |
The money
An off-plan payment plan spreads the price over the build: a booking deposit at the launch, a run of instalments tied to construction milestones, and the balance at handover, or, on a post-handover plan, a share of it paid across the years after you have the keys. Law No. 8 of 2007 requires every instalment to go into an escrow account for the project, registered with RERA, from which the developer draws only against construction progress certified by an approved consultant. It is the rule that made off-plan buyable after 2008, and it is worth checking on RERA's project page that the account exists and the completion percentage is moving before you pay a dirham. A resale is simpler: a deposit, conventionally 10%, held against the contract, and the balance by manager's cheque at the trustee's office on the day.
The paperwork
Both purchases pay the Dubai Land Department 4% of the price. An off-plan sale is registered on Oqood, the department's interim register of homes that do not yet exist as title, and the Oqood becomes a title deed when the building is handed over and the developer completes the project's registration. A resale is registered at a trustee office and the title deed is issued at the counter; the cost of buying has every fee. Some developers advertise the 4% waived, which means the developer is paying the department on your behalf: a discount by another name, and worth pricing as one.
The risk
Off-plan's risk is time. The contract sets a handover date and, after it, a grace period, and Dubai's history holds projects that came in early, on time, late and never. The escrow law protects the money; it does not deliver the building, and a delay of a year is a year of rent not earned, or paid elsewhere. There is also the gap between the brochure and the building, which is why the snagging inspection at handover matters, and the community around it, which may be a plan too. A resale's risk is the building's: its age, its service charges, its maintenance, all of which are visible and most of which are in the community's registers. What you see is what you buy.
The price
Off-plan and resale in the same community are priced against different things, a plan and a schedule against a walk-through and a tenant, and the market has moved between the two more than once. The honest comparison is the two registered figures side by side, which the sales reports keep for every community: the price per square foot of off-plan launches in the year beside the price per square foot of completed resales, never blended. Read them for the community you have in mind before the sales office reads them to you.
Selling before handover
An off-plan contract can be assigned to another buyer before the building is finished, with the developer's no-objection certificate. Most developers require a minimum share of the price to have been paid before they will consent, commonly 30% to 40%, and it is written in the sale and purchase agreement; they charge a fee for the certificate, and the department's fee is paid again on the assignment. It is the route by which an early buyer takes a profit, or a loss, on a project that has moved, and a route with a queue at the developer's counter when a market turns.
Which to choose
A buyer who needs a home this year, or a tenant paying rent from the first month, buys a resale. A buyer who wants a new building, has time, and would rather pay over three years than borrow over twenty-five, looks at the plan. A buyer with a mortgage in mind should notice that the 50% rule makes off-plan a cash purchase for most people until handover. And every buyer should read the community's area guide first, because the question underneath both is the same: is this the right place?
Where this leads
The pages that pick up from here
The cost of buying →
Every fee on a completed purchase, with a worked example.
The sales reports →
Every community with its off-plan launches beside its completed resales — the two prices, side by side.
The mortgage calculator →
The Central Bank’s deposit floor, checked as you type — 50% for off-plan.
The area guides →
Every Dubai community, with what it sells for and rents for from the registers.
Questions people ask
Off-plan or resale, answered
What does off-plan mean in Dubai?
A home bought from the developer before it is completed, paid for in instalments tied to construction milestones, with the money held in a RERA-supervised escrow account until the developer earns it by building.
Is the DLD fee the same for off-plan?
Yes, 4% of the price. It is registered on Oqood, the department’s interim register, and becomes a title deed at handover. Some developers pay the 4% as a launch incentive, which is a discount by another name.
How much deposit does an off-plan mortgage need?
At least 50% — a Central Bank rule — against 20% for an expatriate’s first completed home under AED 5,000,000. Most off-plan buyers use the developer’s payment plan instead of a mortgage and borrow, if at all, at handover.
Can I sell an off-plan property before handover?
Yes, by assigning the contract to a new buyer with the developer’s no-objection certificate. Most developers require a minimum share of the price to have been paid first, commonly 30% to 40%, and charge a fee for the certificate.
What protects my money if the project is delayed?
Law No. 8 of 2007: every off-plan project has an escrow account that the developer draws on only against certified construction progress, and RERA publishes each project’s completion percentage. Delay is the usual risk; the contract sets the handover date and the grace period after it.
Which is cheaper, off-plan or ready?
Neither, as a rule. Off-plan is priced against a plan and a payment schedule; a resale is priced against a building you can walk through and rent tomorrow. The honest comparison is the two registered figures for the same community, which the reports keep side by side.
Regulation here is stated as regulation, and what the market merely does is marked as convention. Figures were checked in September 2026; the rest of the set is written the same way.