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Investing in Dubai

Which areas in Dubai have the highest rental yields?

The affordable ring, not the waterfront.Up to 9.2% gross on a one-bed by area, from what tenants and buyers actually paid.

Land Department registers, to 15 Sept 2026

The short answer

The affordable ring, not the waterfront. Dividing what tenants actually paid by what buyers actually paid, McCone Properties finds a one-bedroom flat earns the most in Al Qusais Industrial Fifth (9.2%), International City (8.9%), Downtown Jebel Ali and Jebel Ali (8.9%), Falcon City of Wonders, Liwan and Wadi Al Safa 2 (8.3%) and Dubai Production City (IMPZ) and Jumeirah Golf Estates (8.2%). The middle half of Dubai’s 46 areas earns 5.7% to 7.7%, Dubai Marina 5.4%, and the city as a whole 5.2%: the cheaper the area, the more of its price it earns in rent. Building by building the top runs higher — Hera Tower in Dubai Sports City returns 11.8%. Every figure is gross, before the service charge, which commonly takes one to two points off. Read from the Land Department’s registers, twelve months to 15 Sept 2026.

By Sam McCone, Managing Partner · Ejari contracts and Land Department resales, twelve months to 15 Sept 2026

Highest area
9.2%
One-bed, Al Qusais Industrial Fifth
Middle of the city
6.8%
One-bed, median of 46 areas
Dubai as a whole
5.2%
Every home, every layout
Highest tower
11.8%
Hera Tower, Dubai Sports City

By area

Find your area

Every area ranked by what a home there earns in rent for its price. Switch to villas, pick a layout, or search for a community.

AreaGross yield, 1-bedRent / price, AED

Gross yield: the median annual rent on every Ejari contract for the layout over the median price of every completed home of the same layout resold, in the same Land Department area and the twelve months to 15 Sept 2026. An area needs 50 leases and 20 resales of the layout, and the homes let and sold must be within 20% of the same size. Dubai Marina, the area most tables name first, is 40 of 46 on a one-bed. For one home with its own service charge, the rental yield calculator gives the net figure.

By building

The highest-yielding towers

Each tower’s own leases over its own resales, a square foot at a time — 421 towers ranked, the middle half returning 6.5% to 7.9%.

  1. 1Hera TowerDubai Sports City · mostly studios · 304 leases, 114 resales11.8%
  2. 2Hanover SquareJumeirah Village Circle · mostly studios · 243 leases, 57 resales11.7%
  3. 3Binghatti StarsDubai Silicon Oasis · mostly studios · 199 leases, 36 resales10.4%
  4. 4Elite Sports Residence 2Dubai Sports City · mostly studios · 436 leases, 25 resales9.8%
  5. 5Plazzo ResidenceJumeirah Village Triangle · mostly studios · 61 leases, 11 resales9.8%
  6. 6Silicon HeightsDubai Silicon Oasis · mostly studios · 154 leases, 17 resales9.6%
  7. 7Edmonton ElmJumeirah Village Triangle · mostly studios · 23 leases, 14 resales9.5%
  8. 8Shamal WavesJumeirah Village Circle · mostly studios · 40 leases, 14 resales9.5%
  9. 9Global Golf Residences 2Dubai Sports City · mostly 1-beds · 192 leases, 24 resales9.4%
  10. 10Plazzo HeightsJumeirah Village Circle · mostly studios · 40 leases, 17 resales9.4%
Show the next 15
  1. 11Dana TowerJumeirah Village Circle · mostly 1-beds · 63 leases, 13 resales9.4%
  2. 12Axis Residence 8Dubai Silicon Oasis · mostly 1-beds · 51 leases, 13 resales9.3%
  3. 13Al Fahad Tower 2Barsha Heights (Tecom) · mostly 2-beds · 105 leases, 14 resales9.3%
  4. 14Al Helal Al Zahaby Building 2Al Warsan · mostly 1-beds · 31 leases, 11 resales9.2%
  5. 15The DunesDubai Silicon Oasis · mostly 1-beds · 123 leases, 19 resales9.1%
  6. 16Laya MansionJumeirah Village Circle · mostly studios · 133 leases, 22 resales9.0%
  7. 17Azizi MirageDubai Studio City · mostly studios · 530 leases, 322 resales9.0%
  8. 18Lincoln Park - SheffieldArjan · mostly studios · 139 leases, 11 resales9.0%
  9. 19Palace Tower 2Dubai Silicon Oasis · mostly studios · 242 leases, 36 resales9.0%
  10. 20Cricket TowerDubai Sports City · mostly 1-beds · 110 leases, 14 resales9.0%
  11. 21The Imperial ResidenceJumeirah Village Triangle · mostly studios · 66 leases, 21 resales9.0%
  12. 22Eagle HeightsDubai Sports City · mostly studios · 179 leases, 21 resales9.0%
  13. 23Elite Sports Residence 1Dubai Sports City · mostly studios · 200 leases, 18 resales8.9%
  14. 24Hamza TowerDubai Sports City · mostly 1-beds · 103 leases, 14 resales8.9%
  15. 25Desert SunDubai Land Residence Complex · mostly studios · 98 leases, 50 resales8.9%

A tower needs 20 of its own leases and 10 of its own resales in the year. Towers whose resales came through in batches on a few days — a portfolio changing hands at one buyer’s price, not a market — are left out. Each name opens the tower’s rental report.

The McCone team at work on the office floor
A yield is only as good as its building. Ask for the service charge first.

Questions

Common questions

What is a good rental yield in Dubai?

Read the ladder: across the 46 areas McCone Properties measured on the Land Department’s registers, a one-bedroom flat returned a median 6.8% gross, with the middle half between 5.7% and 7.7%. Above 7.7% is the top quarter of the city. Net of the service charge, a manager and the weeks between tenants, a figure is commonly one to two points lower — so “good” is a gross yield above the middle with a service charge you have seen.

Why is the yield here lower than on a listing?

An advert divides an asking rent by an asking price, and both are hopes. These figures divide what tenants signed for on Ejari by what buyers paid at the Land Department, for the same layout in the same area and twelve months, and only where the homes let and the homes sold are the same size. Renewals, capped by the RERA index, are inside the rent, so a new lease often lets for a little more.

Do villas yield less than apartments in Dubai?

Yes. In McCone Properties’ reading of the registers, the middle half of villa areas returns 4.7% to 5.1% gross on a three-bedroom house, against 5.7% to 7.7% for a one-bedroom flat. A house costs more a square foot to buy than it lets for, because buyers pay for land and a garden that tenants price lower. Switch the list above to villas to see every area.

What is the rental yield in Dubai for UK or US investors?

The same — a yield is one dirham figure over another, so it reads the same in any currency. What changes is the cheque: on McCone Properties’ figures, a one-bed in International City rents for about £8,070 ($10,900) a year and sells for about £90,800 ($123,000), at the rate on 15 Sept 2026. The dirham is pegged to the US dollar, so a dollar buyer carries no exchange risk; sterling floats. There is no tax on rent or annual property tax in the UAE — how your own country taxes it is a separate question.

What prices did year by year, and the yield by layout city-wide, is on property investment in Dubai; what comes off the gross is in service charges.

Two of the McCone Properties team laughing with a client across a meeting table in the office.

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Have a building in mind?

We will tell you what its units actually let for and sold for on the register, and what its service charge does to the yield.

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