Rental yields · Dubai
Rental yields in Dubai
Every rental yield published for Dubai is an asking rent over an asking price. These are not. The Land Department records every tenancy and every sale in the city; this page divides what tenants actually paid by what buyers actually paid, in the same area, for the same kind of home, in the same twelve months — and ranks the areas, then the towers, with the contracts and transfers behind every figure.
How the yield is measured
A registered rent over a registered price, for the same homes
Not an estimate, and not an average of adverts. One rule for every row on the page, so you can argue with the number.
For an area, one layout at a time: the median annual rent on every Ejari contract for that layout, over the median price of every completed home of the same layout resold at the Land Department, both in the same DLD area and the same twelve months to 15 Sept 2026. A one-bed in Al Qusais Industrial Fifth rents for AED 40,000 and sells for AED 432,600; divide one by the other and you have the row. For a tower, every home at once: its own contracts’ rent per square foot over its own resales’ price per square foot, the measure its own page prints.
Why it beats an estimate: an advert’s rent is a hope and an advert’s price is an opening bid, and a yield made of the two is a hope divided by a bid. A registered contract is what a tenant signed; a registered transfer is what a buyer paid. And the two registers file under the same Land Department area, so the rent and the price on a row are the same homes — which is also why some rows carry the register’s name for a place rather than the one on the sign, with the communities it serves named beneath.
The rule that matters most is a size check. The homes let and the homes sold are two populations, and a row is printed only where their median floor areas agree within a fifth; it is what keeps a tower’s 223 square foot “one-beds” from topping the city at forty per cent. A tower whose resales came through in a batch on a few days — a portfolio changing hands at one buyer’s price — is named beneath its table and not ranked. Every figure is gross, before the service charge and the empty weeks; the rental yield calculator turns any row here into a net figure once you have a building’s charge, and property investment in Dubai carries the city-wide figure, the yield by layout and what prices did year by year.
By area · apartments
Where a flat pays the most rent for its price
Every Land Department area with 50 or more one-bedroom tenancies and 20 or more completed one-bedroom resales in the twelve months to 15 Sept 2026, ranked by the one-bed's gross yield; the studio, two- and three-bed yields of the same area beside it. Each community named opens its area guide.
Al Qusais Industrial Fifth tops the city for a one-bedroom at 9.2%; the highest with an area guide is International City, at 8.9%. Then Downtown Jebel Ali and Jebel Ali (8.9%), Falcon City of Wonders, Liwan and Wadi Al Safa 2 (8.3%), Dubai Production City (IMPZ) and Jumeirah Golf Estates (8.2%) and Dubai Sports City and Tilal Al Ghaf (8.0%). At the foot of the ladder, Maritime City and Mina Rashid: 3.6%. Dubai Marina, the area every published table names first, is 40th of 46 at 5.4%. 43 of the 46 areas beat the city's 5.2% on a one-bed.
| Land Department area | 1 B/R rent, AED/year | 1 B/R price, AED | Contracts | Resales | 1 B/R yield | Studio | 2 B/R | 3 B/R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Qusais Industrial Fifth | 40,000 | 432,600 | 2,722 | 45 | 9.2% | — | — | — |
| 2 | Al Warsan FirstInternational City | 40,000 | 450,000 | 10,868 | 619 | 8.9% | 9.0% | 7.7% | 6.6% |
| 3 | Jabal Ali Industrial SecondDowntown Jebel Ali and Jebel Ali | 58,000 | 650,000 | 375 | 59 | 8.9% | 8.4% | — | — |
| 4 | Wadi Al Safa 2Falcon City of Wonders, Liwan and Wadi Al Safa 2 | 50,802 | 615,000 | 2,656 | 252 | 8.3% | 7.6% | 5.4% | — |
| 5 | Me'Aisem FirstDubai Production City (IMPZ) and Jumeirah Golf Estates | 57,000 | 691,944 | 2,724 | 402 | 8.2% | 9.2% | 5.8% | 5.8% |
| 6 | Al Hebiah FourthDubai Sports City and Tilal Al Ghaf | 56,000 | 700,000 | 3,392 | 468 | 8.0% | 8.5% | 7.5% | — |
| 7 | Al Hebiah FifthDamac Lagoons and Remraam | 54,346 | 682,500 | 1,070 | 124 | 8.0% | 8.4% | 7.0% | 6.1% |
| 8 | Madinat Al MataarDubai South (Dubai World Central) and Expo City | 57,882 | 735,000 | 2,477 | 314 | 7.9% | 8.6% | 7.4% | 6.1% |
| 9 | Dubai Investment Park SecondDubai Investment Park (DIP) | 48,702 | 621,718 | 965 | 47 | 7.8% | 9.0% | 8.4% | — |
| 10 | Jabal Ali FirstAl Furjan, Discovery Gardens, Jebel Ali and Wasl Gate | 62,000 | 810,000 | 8,842 | 610 | 7.7% | 8.0% | 5.9% | — |
| 11 | Al Hebiah FirstMotor City | 72,000 | 931,188 | 873 | 435 | 7.7% | 8.3% | 7.9% | 7.3% |
| 12 | Al Hebiah SecondArabian Ranches and Dubai Studio City | 66,150 | 858,475 | 773 | 162 | 7.7% | 9.3% | 8.0% | — |
| 13 | Nadd HessaDubai Silicon Oasis | 54,000 | 710,000 | 8,272 | 536 | 7.6% | 8.7% | 5.7% | — |
| 14 | Wadi Al Safa 5Arabian Ranches 3, Athlon by Aldar, Dubai Land, Dubai Land Residence Complex and Villanova | 51,000 | 675,000 | 3,497 | 257 | 7.6% | 9.0% | 7.1% | — |
| 15 | Wadi Al Safa 7Arabian Ranches 2, Dubai Land, Reportage Village, Rukan and Serena | 55,000 | 735,000 | 248 | 48 | 7.5% | 8.6% | — | — |
| 16 | Warsan FourthAl Warsan | 49,000 | 662,500 | 5,402 | 160 | 7.4% | 8.7% | 7.0% | — |
| 17 | Al Barsha South FifthJumeirah Village Triangle | 70,000 | 959,086 | 1,271 | 202 | 7.3% | 7.8% | 5.1% | — |
| 18 | Al Yelayiss 2Town Square | 60,000 | 838,000 | 1,665 | 223 | 7.2% | 7.6% | 6.4% | 6.0% |
| 19 | Al Barsha South FourthJumeirah Village Circle | 70,000 | 1,000,000 | 15,395 | 2,416 | 7.0% | 7.9% | 6.3% | 6.1% |
| 20 | Al Hebiah ThirdDamac Hills and Mudon | 70,000 | 995,000 | 1,274 | 202 | 7.0% | 7.8% | 6.5% | — |
| 21 | Al Thanyah FifthJumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Jumeirah Park | 82,000 | 1,184,358 | 3,858 | 422 | 6.9% | 7.5% | 6.2% | 5.1% |
| 22 | Wadi Al Safa 3Al Barari, Living Legends, Majan and Mohammed Bin Rashid City | 60,000 | 865,000 | 1,649 | 508 | 6.9% | 7.6% | 6.5% | 6.7% |
| 23 | Al Barshaa South ThirdArjan | 65,000 | 960,000 | 5,592 | 500 | 6.8% | 7.7% | 6.2% | 7.1% |
| 24 | Al Barshaa South SecondAl Barsha and Dubai Science Park | 70,000 | 1,027,500 | 539 | 68 | 6.8% | 7.8% | 6.4% | — |
| 25 | Nad Al Shiba FirstMeydan and Nad Al Sheba | 80,000 | 1,188,003 | 1,057 | 92 | 6.7% | — | 4.8% | — |
| 26 | Al Safouh FirstAl Sufouh | 85,800 | 1,358,336 | 163 | 21 | 6.3% | — | 4.4% | — |
| 27 | Al MerkadhMeydan and Mohammed Bin Rashid City | 83,000 | 1,350,000 | 4,812 | 774 | 6.1% | 7.2% | 5.7% | 5.4% |
| 28 | Al Thanyah ThirdGreens, The Lakes and The Views | 90,000 | 1,475,000 | 1,796 | 225 | 6.1% | 6.7% | 6.0% | 5.3% |
| 29 | Al Goze FourthAl Quoz | 58,319 | 950,000 | 746 | 58 | 6.1% | 6.9% | — | — |
| 30 | Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin RashidDubai Hills Estate and Mohammed Bin Rashid City | 90,000 | 1,500,000 | 2,408 | 420 | 6.0% | 7.1% | 5.7% | 6.4% |
| 31 | Al Thanyah FirstBarsha Heights (Tecom) | 68,000 | 1,124,340 | 2,271 | 24 | 6.0% | — | 5.5% | — |
| 32 | Business BayBusiness Bay | 87,000 | 1,470,000 | 7,343 | 1,000 | 5.9% | 6.5% | 5.5% | 4.7% |
| 33 | Al Khairan FirstDubai Creek Harbour (The Lagoons) | 100,000 | 1,730,000 | 2,392 | 436 | 5.8% | — | 5.8% | 5.5% |
| 34 | Al KifafBur Dubai | 105,000 | 1,800,000 | 240 | 25 | 5.8% | — | 5.2% | — |
| 35 | Zaabeel SecondDubai Design District and Zabeel | 120,000 | 2,110,000 | 351 | 34 | 5.7% | — | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| 36 | Burj KhalifaDowntown Dubai | 115,000 | 2,050,000 | 4,036 | 520 | 5.6% | 6.3% | 5.3% | 5.1% |
| 37 | Dubai Investment Park FirstDubai Investment Park (DIP) | 59,850 | 1,060,000 | 1,359 | 27 | 5.6% | — | — | — |
| 38 | Um Suqaim ThirdUmm Suqeim | 120,000 | 2,150,000 | 373 | 69 | 5.6% | — | 5.3% | — |
| 39 | Al JadafAl Jaddaf and Culture Village | 70,000 | 1,264,011 | 3,599 | 230 | 5.5% | 6.2% | 4.3% | 4.7% |
| 40 | Marsa DubaiBluewaters, Dubai Harbour, Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residence | 95,000 | 1,768,000 | 7,692 | 1,038 | 5.4% | 5.8% | 5.2% | 4.7% |
| 41 | Al SatwaAl Satwa | 72,000 | 1,342,116 | 2,494 | 48 | 5.4% | — | 4.2% | — |
| 42 | MirdifMirdif | 52,920 | 1,000,000 | 2,356 | 23 | 5.3% | — | 4.3% | — |
| 43 | Al WaslAl Safa, Al Wasl and City Walk | 139,783 | 2,650,000 | 555 | 110 | 5.3% | — | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| 44 | Palm JumeirahEmirates Golf Club and Palm Jumeirah | 150,000 | 2,900,000 | 1,058 | 152 | 5.2% | 5.9% | 4.5% | 4.5% |
| 45 | Jumeirah FirstJumeirah and Pearl Jumeirah | 100,000 | 2,300,000 | 690 | 62 | 4.3% | — | 4.2% | — |
| 46 | Madinat Dubai AlmelaheyahMaritime City and Mina Rashid | 63,063 | 1,737,500 | 646 | 20 | 3.6% | — | 3.3% | — |
Gross yield: the median annual rent of every Ejari apartment contract of the layout registered in the twelve months to 15 Sept 2026 — new leases and renewals together — over the median price of every completed apartment of the same layout resold and registered in the twelve months to 11 Sept 2026, in the same Land Department area. Contracts and resales are the one-bed’s; the other columns are the same measure for the other layouts, printed where the area clears the same floors. A row is shown only where the homes let and the homes sold are the same size — median floor areas within 20% of each other. Off-plan sales are left out. The row is the Land Department area, because that is the unit both registers file under; where one area serves several communities the figure is one reading shared between them, and an area we publish no guide for keeps its row. A dash means the layout did not clear the floors there, not that none exist.
By area · villas and townhouses
Where a house pays the most rent for its price
The same measure on the villa register — Ejari contracts and completed resales the Land Department types as a villa, which is every townhouse too — ranked by the three-bedroom at the same floors, with the two-, four- and five-bed beside it.
Jumeirah Village Circle leads for a three-bedroom house at 6.0%, then Mudon (5.3%), Arabian Ranches 3, Athlon by Aldar, Dubai Land, Dubai Land Residence Complex and Villanova (5.2%) and Town Square (5.1%). The lowest, Greens, The Lakes and The Views, returns 4.0%. The middle half of villa areas sits between 4.7% and 5.1%, a point or two under the flats above: a house costs more a foot to own than it lets for a foot.
| Land Department area | 3 B/R rent, AED/year | 3 B/R price, AED | Contracts | Resales | 3 B/R yield | 2 B/R | 4 B/R | 5 B/R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Barsha South FourthJumeirah Village Circle | 178,500 | 3,000,000 | 395 | 91 | 6.0% | — | 5.9% | — |
| 2 | Al Hebiah SixthMudon | 180,000 | 3,400,000 | 722 | 179 | 5.3% | — | 5.2% | — |
| 3 | Wadi Al Safa 5Arabian Ranches 3, Athlon by Aldar, Dubai Land, Dubai Land Residence Complex and Villanova | 155,000 | 3,000,000 | 1,918 | 229 | 5.2% | — | 5.1% | — |
| 4 | Al Yelayiss 2Town Square | 145,000 | 2,850,000 | 1,605 | 207 | 5.1% | — | 5.0% | — |
| 5 | Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin RashidDubai Hills Estate and Mohammed Bin Rashid City | 248,846 | 4,850,000 | 708 | 59 | 5.1% | — | 5.1% | — |
| 6 | Al Yelayiss 1Damac Islands 2, Dubai Land and Reem | 160,000 | 3,200,000 | 1,088 | 143 | 5.0% | — | 4.6% | — |
| 7 | Wadi Al Safa 7Arabian Ranches 2, Dubai Land, Reportage Village, Rukan and Serena | 165,000 | 3,340,000 | 901 | 107 | 4.9% | — | — | — |
| 8 | Al Yufrah 1The Valley | 135,000 | 2,750,000 | 637 | 182 | 4.9% | — | 4.9% | — |
| 9 | Al Hebiah FourthDubai Sports City and Tilal Al Ghaf | 200,000 | 4,050,000 | 544 | 86 | 4.9% | — | 6.0% | — |
| 10 | Wadi Al Safa 6Arabian Ranches | 235,000 | 4,999,999 | 604 | 100 | 4.7% | 4.2% | — | — |
| 11 | Madinat Al MataarDubai South (Dubai World Central) and Expo City | 110,000 | 2,475,000 | 1,115 | 159 | 4.4% | — | 4.1% | — |
| 12 | Al Thanayah FourthThe Springs | 235,000 | 5,800,000 | 1,035 | 169 | 4.1% | 4.3% | — | — |
| 13 | Al Thanyah ThirdGreens, The Lakes and The Views | 282,500 | 7,000,000 | 238 | 33 | 4.0% | — | — | — |
The same rule as the apartment table, on the rows both registers type as a villa. The register has no townhouse kind, so a townhouse in Town Square and a villa on the Palm are one population, and a house sold with its plot is filed as land with no bedroom count — those cannot be matched to a tenancy, so communities that sell that way are absent here rather than mis-stated. Compare houses with houses: villas in Dubai carries both registers by bedroom and by community.
By building
The 25 highest-yielding towers in Dubai
Every published tower with 20 or more of its own Ejari contracts and 10 or more of its own completed resales in the twelve months — 421 of them — ranked by its own rent per square foot over its own resale price per square foot. Each name opens the tower's rental report.
Hera Tower in Dubai Sports City returns 11.8% gross on 304 contracts and 114 resales, studios 48% of what it lets. 17 of the 25 are towers that mostly let studios, and 9 communities hold the whole league — Dubai Sports City, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Jumeirah Village Triangle and 5 more. Across all 421 ranked towers the middle half returns 6.5% to 7.9%, and the lowest 4.5%.
Gross yield: the median rent per square foot a year on every Ejari contract the register names to the tower in the twelve months to 15 Sept 2026, over the median price per square foot of every completed home in it resold and registered in the twelve months to 11 Sept 2026. “Mostly lets” is the layout on the largest share of those contracts. The same size check as the area tables applies. Villa estates sit in the villa table above, not here. Named, not ranked — their figure would place them in the league, but their resales came through in batches, the signature of a portfolio changing hands rather than a market: Regent Court in Jumeirah Village Circle (14.5%; 31 resales, 20 of them on three days), The Belvedere in Dubai Marina (12.6%; 19 resales, 14 of them on one day), Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, District One Phase III, Residences 4 in Mohammed Bin Rashid City (11.2%; all 10 resales on one day), Dune Residency in Jumeirah Village Circle (10.3%; 40 resales on 9 registration days) and Golden Homes Building in Jumeirah Village Circle (9.0%; 72 resales, 41 of them on one day).
By layout
The smaller the home, the more of its price it earns
The shape every column on this page shows, and the city-wide table for it is on the investment page.
Read any row above from left to right and the studio yields more than the one-bed, which yields more than the two-bed, which yields more than the three-bed: a small home rents for a larger share of its price than a large one, in every area of the city. The same registers read city-wide, by layout, with the median rent and the median price behind each figure, are on property investment in Dubai, beside what a dirham of Dubai property did year by year and the fall on the way; this page does not repeat them.
In pounds, dollars and rupees
The top ten areas, in the currency you would bring
A yield is a ratio and reads the same in any currency. The cheque does not: the one-bed rent and price of the ten highest-yielding areas, at the mid-market rate on 15 Sept 2026.
| Area | Yield | Rent, AED | Price, AED | Rent, USD | Rent, GBP | Rent, INR | Price, USD | Price, GBP | Price, INR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Qusais Industrial Fifth | 9.2% | 40,000 | 432,600 | 10,900 | 8,070 | 1,040,000 | 118,000 | 87,300 | 11,270,000 |
| Al Warsan FirstInternational City | 8.9% | 40,000 | 450,000 | 10,900 | 8,070 | 1,040,000 | 123,000 | 90,800 | 11,720,000 |
| Jabal Ali Industrial SecondDowntown Jebel Ali and Jebel Ali | 8.9% | 58,000 | 650,000 | 15,800 | 11,700 | 1,510,000 | 177,000 | 131,000 | 16,930,000 |
| Wadi Al Safa 2Falcon City of Wonders, Liwan and Wadi Al Safa 2 | 8.3% | 50,802 | 615,000 | 13,800 | 10,200 | 1,320,000 | 167,000 | 124,000 | 16,020,000 |
| Me'Aisem FirstDubai Production City (IMPZ) and Jumeirah Golf Estates | 8.2% | 57,000 | 691,944 | 15,500 | 11,500 | 1,480,000 | 188,000 | 140,000 | 18,020,000 |
| Al Hebiah FourthDubai Sports City and Tilal Al Ghaf | 8.0% | 56,000 | 700,000 | 15,200 | 11,300 | 1,460,000 | 191,000 | 141,000 | 18,230,000 |
| Al Hebiah FifthDamac Lagoons and Remraam | 8.0% | 54,346 | 682,500 | 14,800 | 11,000 | 1,420,000 | 186,000 | 138,000 | 17,780,000 |
| Madinat Al MataarDubai South (Dubai World Central) and Expo City | 7.9% | 57,882 | 735,000 | 15,800 | 11,700 | 1,510,000 | 200,000 | 148,000 | 19,140,000 |
| Dubai Investment Park SecondDubai Investment Park (DIP) | 7.8% | 48,702 | 621,718 | 13,300 | 9,830 | 1,270,000 | 169,000 | 125,000 | 16,190,000 |
| Jabal Ali FirstAl Furjan, Discovery Gardens, Jebel Ali and Wasl Gate | 7.7% | 62,000 | 810,000 | 16,900 | 12,500 | 1,610,000 | 221,000 | 163,000 | 21,100,000 |
Converted at the open mid-market rate published for the morning of 15 Sept 2026 — one dirham at 0.2723 US dollars, 0.2018 pounds and 26.05 rupees — and rounded. The dirham has been pegged to the dollar at 3.6725 since 1997, so the dollar column moves only if the peg does; sterling and the rupee float, and a bank’s rate on the day will differ. Rent in Dubai is paid by the year, usually in one to four cheques.
The honest caveats
What a gross yield leaves out
Gross is not net
Every figure here is a year’s rent over a price, before anything comes off. The largest deduction is the service charge — set per building, charged per square foot, paid by the owner and never the tenant — and it varies enough that two flats at the same price in the same area return quite different income. Service charges and Mollak says what the bands are and how to read a building’s. A manager takes a share of the rent on top; property management in Dubai says how much.
A year of rent assumes a year of tenant
A yield on twelve months of rent quietly assumes the home was let for all twelve. Between tenancies a flat earns nothing while it is marketed and made ready, and a tower that lets mostly studios to a transient market turns over more often than a villa street. The register records tenancies, not vacancies, so nothing here measures the gap; budget for it.
Renewals are inside the rent
The rent figures count new leases and renewals together, and a renewal’s increase is capped by the RERA rental index, so a new lease signed today usually lets for somewhat more than the median beside it. The community rent reports print new leases and renewals side by side; the area guides say which area they read.
The figures are read from the registers as they stood on 15 Sept 2026 for rents and 11 Sept 2026 for sales, and the page says so rather than pretending to be live; the community names and links are current. The exclusions are the reports’ own — transfers recorded at a fraction of what a building trades for, lease-to-own conversions, developer registrations, and the odd plot-sized “flat” — the same rows every price on Dubai property prices leaves out.
Questions people ask
Rental yield in Dubai, answered
What is a good rental yield in Dubai?
There is no official benchmark, so read the ladder. Across the 46 areas on this page a one-bedroom flat returned a median 6.8% gross over the year to 15 Sept 2026, with the middle half of areas between 5.7% and 7.7%; above 7.7% is the top quarter of the city, and Maritime City and Mina Rashid at 3.6% is the bottom. Tower by tower the spread is wider: the 421 towers ranked here run from 4.5% to 11.8%, median 7.3%. Dubai as a whole, every layout together, returns 5.2% on the same two registers. Every one of those is gross — before the service charge, a manager and the weeks between tenants — and a net figure is commonly one to two points lower, so "good" is a gross figure above the middle of the ladder with a service charge you have seen.
Which area has the highest rental yield in Dubai?
For a one-bedroom flat, Al Qusais Industrial Fifth at 9.2% gross: a median rent of AED 40,000 a year on 2,722 registered contracts over a median completed resale of AED 432,600 on 45 transfers, in the twelve months to 15 Sept 2026. The highest with an area guide is International City, at 8.9%. Then Downtown Jebel Ali and Jebel Ali (8.9%), Falcon City of Wonders, Liwan and Wadi Al Safa 2 (8.3%), Dubai Production City (IMPZ) and Jumeirah Golf Estates (8.2%) and Dubai Sports City and Tilal Al Ghaf (8.0%). The pattern is the one every yield table shows and none measures: the cheaper the area, the more of its price it earns each year, so the top of this ladder is the affordable ring and the bottom is the beach.
Is Dubai property a good investment?
The register can say what it has returned, not what it will. On this page: what each area's homes rented for against what they sold for in the same year, gross, with the contracts and transfers behind every figure — 5.2% for the city as a whole, 5.7% to 7.7% for the middle half of areas on a one-bed. What it does not say is what prices will do, what the service charge in your building is, how long the flat sits empty between tenants, or what the money would earn elsewhere; the investment page carries the sale register's price path year by year, including the fall from 2014 and the years it took to come back, and the costs of buying and selling, which is the other half of the answer. Whether that makes it good depends on your alternatives, your leverage and your horizon, and nothing on this page is advice.
Which buildings in Dubai have the highest rental yield?
On their own registered contracts over their own completed resales, Hera Tower in Dubai Sports City (11.8%), Hanover Square in Jumeirah Village Circle (11.7%), Binghatti Stars in Dubai Silicon Oasis (10.4%). 17 of the 25 are towers that mostly let studios, and 9 communities hold all of them — Dubai Sports City, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Jumeirah Village Triangle and 5 more. A handful of towers would read higher still but are not ranked: their resales came through in batches on a few days, which is a portfolio changing hands at one buyer's price, not a market; they are named beneath the table with their figure.
Do villas yield less than apartments in Dubai?
Yes, on the register. The highest-yielding villa area for a three-bedroom is Jumeirah Village Circle at 6.0% gross, and the middle half of villa areas sits between 4.7% and 5.1% — against 5.7% to 7.7% for a one-bedroom flat. A house costs more per square foot to buy than it lets for per square foot, and villa buyers are paying for land and a garden that a tenant prices lower than an owner does. The villa table above is ranked by the three-bed because that is the layout a townhouse most often is; the four- and five-bed columns beside it are the detached end.
Why is the yield here lower than the one on a listing?
Because an advert divides an asking rent by an asking price, and both are what someone hoped for. These figures divide what tenants signed for through Ejari by what buyers paid at the Land Department, in the same area, for the same layout, in the same twelve months, and a row is printed only where the homes let and the homes sold are the same size within a fifth. Renewals are inside the rent figure and are capped by the RERA index, so a new lease signed today usually lets for somewhat more than the median; and every figure is gross — the service charge, which the owner pays and the tenant never does, comes off before you see any of it.
Is the rental yield in Dubai the same for a UK, US or Indian investor?
The yield is, exactly: it is one dirham figure divided by another, so it reads the same in pounds, dollars or rupees. What the currency changes is the size of the cheque and the risk on it — the dirham has been pegged to the US dollar at 3.6725 since 1997, so a dollar buyer carries no exchange risk on the price or the rent, while sterling and the rupee move against both. The table on this page prints the top ten areas' one-bed rent and price in all three at the rate on 15 Sept 2026. Rent is not taxed in the UAE and there is no annual property tax here; how your own country taxes rent earned abroad is a separate question, and the investment page's tax answer says what we do and do not know.
Why are some areas named by a Land Department name I do not recognise?
Because the rent register files a tenancy under its DLD area — Al Warsan First, not International City; Marsa Dubai, not Dubai Marina — and this page reads the sale register by the same areas so that the rent and the price on a row describe the same homes. The communities an area serves are named beneath it and each opens its guide. Where one area holds several communities (Marsa Dubai is Dubai Marina, JBR, Dubai Harbour and Bluewaters) the row is one reading shared between them, not one figure per name; and an area we publish no guide for is still a row, because the register does not care whether we write about it.
Have a price and a building in mind? The rental yield calculator takes the service charge off and gives the net figure. Before any one home, the city: property investment in Dubai reads the return by layout and what prices did year by year, and Dubai property prices is every building’s recorded market. Yield is one axis: the cheapest areas ranks the same communities by what a home costs, the best areas to live weighs the garden, the metro and the sea, and the best residential buildings ranks the towers by what buyers paid rather than what tenants did. Every community named here has an area guide with both registers behind it; where a foreign national can own at all is on the freehold areas. To go straight to what is on the market, start with property for sale or for rent.