Buying off-plan in Dubai
What are the risks of buying off-plan in Dubai?
Mostly delay — then paying more than the finished home turns out to be worth.Escrow protects the money. It does not deliver the building on time, or at a price.
The short answer
Mostly delay — then paying more than the finished home turns out to be worth. Your money itself is far safer than it was before 2008: every instalment goes into a RERA-supervised escrow account the developer can draw on only as the building rises. What escrow does not do is deliver on time — in RERA’s project register for June 2026, 277 of the 865 projects under construction (32%) were past the completion date they were registered with. The second risk is price: in McCone Properties’ count of the 296 towers handed over in 2025 and 2026, 34 resold in their first year for less a square foot than their off-plan buyers had paid, though the median tower finished 19% above. And the money is hard to move: no bank lends more than 50% on an unbuilt home, so the plan is paid in cash; you can sell before handover only with the developer’s consent, commonly after 30–40% is paid; and the home earns no rent until the keys.
By Sam McCone, Managing Partner · RERA’s project register as loaded 15 Jun 2026; sales registered to 11 Sept 2026
Risk by risk
Six things that go wrong, and what to check
Pick a risk: how often it happens, what protects you, and what to look at before you pay.
It hands over late
32% of projects on site are past their registered end date
- How often
- The commonest risk by far. In RERA’s project register, 277 of the 865 projects under construction stood past the completion date they were registered with. Late is not never — most of them are still being built — but a year late is a year of rent not earned, or paid somewhere else.
- What protects you
- The sale and purchase agreement sets the handover date and a grace period after it; what you are owed beyond that is whatever the agreement says, so the clause is worth reading before you sign, not after. The escrow law protects the money, not the date.
- What to check
- The project’s completion percentage on the Land Department’s Project Status Enquiry (in Dubai REST and on its website), and whether it has moved since the last instalment. Then the developer’s record: how many of its past projects finished, and how many of its live ones are already past their date.
It is worth less than you paid
11% of towers handed over in 2025–2026 resold below their off-plan price
- How often
- Less often than delay, and usually in a falling or crowded market. Of 296 towers handed over in 2025 and 2026 with enough sales to compare, 34 resold in their first year for less a square foot than the median their off-plan buyers had paid; the median tower finished 19% above. The losers cluster where many towers hand over at once and every new owner tries to sell or let in the same months.
- What protects you
- Nothing protects a price. A launch is priced against a plan and a payment schedule, and the market can move in the three years before the keys.
- What to check
- The price per square foot of completed resales in the same community, never blended with launches, beside the price you are being offered — and how many other towers in the district are handing over the same year.
The project stalls
Escrow every instalment held in a RERA-supervised account since 2007
- How often
- Rare since 2008. Law No. 8 of 2007 requires every off-plan project to be registered with RERA and every instalment to go into an escrow account for that project, which the developer draws on only against construction progress certified by an approved consultant. Before that law, Dubai had projects sold and never built.
- What protects you
- Escrow means your money can only be spent on your building. If a project stops for good, what is left in the account is not the developer’s to spend elsewhere — though recovering it runs through the Land Department’s process and can take years.
- What to check
- That the project is on RERA’s register and has an escrow account before paying anything, including an expression of interest; that every payment goes to that account, never to a broker or a personal one; and that the sale is registered on Oqood.
You cannot borrow against it
50% the most a bank can lend on an unbuilt home
- How often
- Certain, by Central Bank rule. Of 27,191 residential mortgages registered in the twelve months to August 2026, not one was on an off-plan home — while 122,865 off-plan homes sold. The plan is paid in cash, and a mortgage, if any, comes at handover against the bank’s valuation, which may be below the price.
- What protects you
- The payment plan itself: instalments tied to construction milestones, so money goes in as the building rises, and some plans leave a share to be paid after handover.
- What to check
- That you can pay every instalment from cash, and the handover payment either from cash or from a loan at 80% of what a bank will value the finished home at — not of what you paid for it.
You cannot sell when you want to
30–40% paid, commonly, before a developer allows a resale
- How often
- Common. A contract can be assigned to a new buyer before handover only with the developer’s no-objection certificate, and most developers require a minimum share of the price to have been paid first, commonly 30% to 40%, written into the agreement.
- What protects you
- Nothing beyond the agreement. The developer charges a fee for the certificate, the Land Department’s fee is paid again on the assignment, and when a market turns there is a queue of sellers at the same counter.
- What to check
- The assignment clause: the share that must be paid first, the developer’s fee, and any lock-in period — before you sign, because they cannot be negotiated afterwards.
It is not what the brochure showed
Snagging the inspection before you accept the keys
- How often
- Common in small ways — finishes, a smaller balcony, a view that a later tower took away, a community whose park is still a plan. Rarely large, because the size and the layout are in the agreement.
- What protects you
- The agreement’s description of the unit, including any tolerance on its area, and the defects liability the developer carries after handover.
- What to check
- The floor plan and specification attached to the agreement, not the show apartment; then a snagging inspection before you accept handover, so defects are the developer’s to fix while you still have leverage.
Delay counts RERA’s active projects whose registered end date had passed on the register’s load of 15 Jun 2026; the developers behind them are on real estate developers in Dubai. Price compares each tower’s first year of completed resales with its off-plan sales, per square foot, where each side has five or more; every tower is on new buildings in Dubai.
Off-plan or ready?
The two purchases, side by side
| Off-plan | Ready | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay | In instalments as it is built, often some after handover | In full on transfer day |
| Your money sits in | A RERA-supervised escrow account | The seller’s account, on the day |
| Bank loan | At most 50%, so most buy on the plan in cash | Up to 80% for an expatriate’s first home under AED 5M |
| Registered on | Oqood, until the title deed at handover | A title deed, the same afternoon |
| Commission | Usually none — the developer pays the agent | Conventionally 2% + VAT, paid by the buyer |
| Earns rent | Nothing until handover | From the first month |
| You can see | A plan, a model and a site | The home, the building and the neighbours |
Both pay the Land Department 4% — the cost of buying has every fee. The registered price per square foot of launches and of completed resales, community by community, is in the sales reports.
Check the developer kept the last one.
Questions
Common questions
Should I buy off-plan or ready in Dubai?
Ready, if you need to live in the home or let it this year, or want to borrow 80% of the price: you see what you buy, take the title deed on the day and earn rent from the first month. Off-plan, if you have time, cash for a plan of three years or so, and a developer whose last projects finished — it is how 75% of Dubai’s homes are now sold, by McCone Properties’ count of the Land Department’s register (122,865 of 163,323 in the twelve months to August 2026), usually with no commission and a newer building. Either way, compare the launch price with what completed homes in the same community resell for, not with other launches.
What happens if my off-plan project in Dubai is delayed?
The sale and purchase agreement sets a handover date and a grace period after it, and what you are owed beyond that — compensation, or the right to cancel — is what that agreement says, so read the clause before you sign. Meanwhile the escrow account keeps your instalments for your building, and the Land Department’s Project Status Enquiry (in Dubai REST) shows the completion percentage RERA’s inspectors have certified; one that has not moved in months is a question for the developer before the next payment.
Is my money safe if an off-plan developer in Dubai goes bust?
Safer than in most markets. Law No. 8 of 2007 requires every off-plan project to be registered with RERA and every instalment to go into an escrow account for that project, released only against certified construction progress — so money paid in can only be spent on that building. Recovering what is left in escrow from a project that stops for good runs through the Land Department and can take years, which is why the developer’s record matters as much as the law. Pay only into the project’s escrow account, never a broker’s or a personal one.
Can I sell an off-plan property in Dubai 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, and the Land Department’s fee is paid again on the transfer. When a market turns, many sellers queue at the same counter.
The register an off-plan sale goes on is Oqood; the schedule you pay on is payment plans; and the inspection before you take the keys is snagging and handover.
