Should I buy off-plan or ready?

Most deals are still off-plan: about 72% in Dubai and 82% in Abu Dhabi. You pay in stages, so you need the current payment plan, not last year’s brochure. Buy ready if you need to live in it, or sell it, within a year.

Too many similar apartments arriving together. Dubai expects about 74,100 homes in 2026 and as many as 160,700 in 2027. Ras Al Khaimah has more than 34,000 homes due by 2030. Beach, villas and true luxury addresses are still the scarce ones.

Where do you look first?

Dubai: Palm Jebel Ali and Creek Harbour for the address, JVC for rent, Business Bay if you want to sell more easily. Abu Dhabi: Saadiyat, Yas and Reem. Ras Al Khaimah: Al Marjan Island and Mina Al Arab. We only list the Dubai homes on this site. Ask us for the others.

UAE luxury property trends 2026

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah

AED 38.4bn

Dubai

Q1 luxury and ultra-luxury, homes above AED 20 million.

The AED 50 million-plus band rose nearly 79% year on year.
Off-plan was about 72% of deals. Palm Jebel Ali led ultra-luxury value in 2025, at AED 12.4 billion.
About 74,100 homes are due in 2026, mostly apartments. Villas and beach addresses are still scarce.

AED 70.4bn

Abu Dhabi

Residential sales in the first half, ADREC.

That is up from AED 25.3 billion in the first half of 2025. Off-plan was 89% of the value and 82% of the deals.
Repeat-sale prices rose 20% for apartments and 12% for villas.
The pipeline sits on Saadiyat, Reem, Yas, Hudayriyat, Zayed City and Khalifa City.

+18%

Ras Al Khaimah

Apartment prices in the first half, to AED 2,298 per sq ft. CBRE.

Al Marjan Island apartments rose 23.1%. Al Hamra rose 14.7%. Villa prices rose 7.3%.
A Waldorf Astoria Sky Palace sold for $35.4 million, the emirate’s record. A Mondrian Sky Mansion sold for $34.7 million.
More than 34,000 homes are due by 2030, about 10,000 of them branded.

What changed this year

Dubai: the top is not the middle

Cavendish Maxwell counted AED 38.4 billion in the first quarter across 840 homes above AED 20 million. Homes above AED 50 million rose nearly 79% year on year. Knight Frank logged 193 deals above US$10 million, the highest quarter on record. That is not a JVC studio. Do not read a city-wide average as a Palm price.

Abu Dhabi caught up on value

ADREC put first-half residential sales at AED 70.4 billion, against AED 25.3 billion a year earlier. Off-plan was 89% of that value. Repeat-sale prices rose 20% for apartments and 12% for villas. The homes that matter sit on Saadiyat, Yas, Reem and Hudayriyat.

Ras Al Khaimah is a branded beach market

CBRE says apartment prices rose 18% to AED 2,298 per square foot. Al Marjan Island rose 23.1%. A Waldorf Astoria Sky Palace sold for $35.4 million, the emirate’s record, and a Mondrian Sky Mansion sold for $34.7 million. About 10,000 of the 34,000 homes due by 2030 are branded.

Supply is the question for 2027

Dubai could complete about 74,100 homes in 2026 and around 160,700 in 2027, mostly apartments. Ras Al Khaimah is adding branded stock fast. Beach, villas and named water will not arrive in the same numbers. Buy the building and the payment plan, not the render.

Sources: Cavendish Maxwell and Knight Frank, Dubai Q1 2026; ADREC Abu Dhabi H1 2026; CBRE Ras Al Khaimah H1 2026. Figures as published. We confirm what is still for sale.

How we read 2026

At the top, yes. In Dubai, homes above AED 20 million rose more than 25% in the first quarter, and the AED 50 million band jumped nearly 79%. Abu Dhabi repeat sales rose 20% for apartments. Ras Al Khaimah apartments rose 18%. Ordinary prices are rising more slowly. That is a late cycle, not a crash.

Luxury property trends across the UAE