Buy · Dubai

Property for sale in Dubai

910 homes for sale with McCone across 73 communities — live listings, real prices, and a written report on every community. 1,251 for rent →

Asking prices

What a home costs, by size

The middle half of our own live stock — a quarter of what we are selling asks less than the low figure, a quarter asks more than the high one.

SizeListingsTypicalMiddle half
Studio33830K665K1.28M
1 bed1701.67M1.20M2.09M
2 bed1322.70M2.09M3.50M
3 bed684.00M2.85M4.95M
4 bed554.80M3.54M8.35M
5+ bed4012M7.95M28M

By type: 377 apartments for sale (typically 2.00M) · 69 villas for sale (typically 8.10M) · 51 townhouses for sale (typically 3.52M).

These are asking prices on McCone listings, not recorded transactions, and off-plan is excluded: it is priced on a payment plan against a handover years away and would move every median without describing anything. For what buyers actually paid, the community reports carry DLD-registered sales. Live McCone stock as at September 2026, from 501 ready listings with 410 off-plan held out.

Buying in Dubai

What the asking price does not include

The Dubai Land Department takes 4% of the purchase price to transfer the title, and the buyer pays it. Add the title deed fee, the trustee-office charge and a conventional 2% agency commission (2.1% with the 5% VAT on it), and the cost of buying lands a little over 6% above the price on the listing — worth knowing before you decide what you can spend, because none of it can be borrowed.

After the sale, the recurring cost is the service charge: a per-square-foot annual sum set by the building’s owners association, which pays for the pool, the lifts, the security and the chilled water. It varies enormously between buildings — two apartments at the same price in the same community can return quite different income, and this is usually why. If you are buying to let, the rental yield calculator on this site puts the number in front of you.

Foreign nationals can own freehold in the designated areas, which covers most of what people think of as modern Dubai — the Marina, Downtown, the Palm, Dubai Hills, JVC and the rest. Elsewhere ownership is leasehold or restricted. A cash purchase can complete in a few weeks; a mortgage adds a valuation and a lender’s timetable, and buying from abroad through a power of attorney is routine.

Questions

Buying in Dubai, answered plainly

Can foreigners buy property in Dubai?

Yes. Foreign nationals can buy freehold in Dubai’s designated freehold areas, with no residency requirement and full ownership of the property and the land it sits on. Outside those areas ownership is leasehold or reserved for GCC nationals.

What fees do you pay when buying property in Dubai?

The Dubai Land Department transfer fee is 4% of the purchase price, paid by the buyer, plus a title deed fee and a trustee-office charge. Agency commission is conventionally 2%, plus 5% VAT on the commission: 2.1% of the price all in. A mortgage adds a bank arrangement fee, a valuation, and a DLD mortgage registration charge. Budget a little over 6% of the price in cash on top of the price itself.

How long does it take to buy a property in Dubai?

A cash purchase can move from signed contract to transfer in a few weeks, because the whole transfer happens in one appointment at a DLD trustee office. A mortgage typically adds four to six weeks for pre-approval, valuation and the lender’s final offer.

What is the difference between freehold and leasehold in Dubai?

Freehold is outright ownership of the property and the land, registered in your name with the DLD and inheritable. Leasehold is a long-term right to occupy, usually for up to ninety-nine years, with the land remaining with the freeholder. Nearly all of Dubai’s well-known communities are freehold.

Do I have to be in Dubai to buy a property?

No. Buying through a power of attorney is routine, and a large share of Dubai purchases are made by people who are not in the country on the day. The document has to be notarised and, if executed abroad, attested and translated.

Should I buy off-plan or ready?

Off-plan spreads the cost over a payment plan and is sold at the developer’s price, but you are buying a handover date rather than a home, and you cannot rent it until it exists. Ready property costs more up front and starts earning immediately. They are different investments, which is why the price table on this page keeps them apart.

Deciding where, before what? The area guides take Dubai community by community. Recorded prices and rents by community are in the sales reports; the mortgage calculator works out the monthly repayment and the cash you need on the day, and if you are buying to let, the rental yield calculator what the property returns. Still deciding whether to buy at all? The rent vs buy calculator compares the two over the years you would stay.

Not seeing it? A good share of what we sell never reaches the portals — tell us the community and the budget.