Dubai stays on course for record year in property rentals

In real estate sales, Dubai South ranked as the best-performing area for the fifth successive month

Dubai, UAE, Aug 07: The Dubai real estate market remains on course in 2026 to set a new all-time high for rental contracts recorded in one year.

A market analysis from fäm Properties today shows that 38,197 rental contracts were registered in July, 18,431 of these new agreements, with 19,766 renewals.

This takes the total number of rental contracts recorded for the first seven months in 2026 to 214,445, a 1.9% increase on the same period last year which ended with a record number of 377,660 registered contracts.

To date in 2026, reflecting a consistent preference for apartments in the market, 88,327 (41%) of tenancy contracts registered were for one-bedroom units.

Meanwhile, the market delivered 13,872 sales transactions valued at AED34.5 billion last month. Once again off plan sales dominated with 9,585 transactions worth AED 20.5 billion compared with 4,287 valued at AED14.0 billion in the resale market.

Data from DXBinteract shows Dubai South as the emirate’s best-performing area in sales volume for the fifth consecutive month, recording 2,351 transactions worth AED2.6 billion. Of these, 2,231 were off plan deals amounting to AED2.3 billion.

“The level of rental activity overall is a good sign of market resilience,” said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties. “The volume of renewals alone shows that, regardless of regional uncertainty over the last few months, people still see Dubai as one of the best places in the world to live and work.”

July recorded 11,759 apartment sales worth AED 17.8 billion, alongside 1,322 villa sales worth AED 7.8 billion, 268 plot sales valued at AED 6.9 billion, and 515 commercial transactions, including offices and shops, worth AED 1.9 billion.

The most expensive apartment sold in July went for AED166 million at Aman Residences Tower 2 at Jumeirah Second, while the most expensive villa fetched AED73 million at The Oasis – Lavita.

With properties worth more than AED5 million accounting for 7% of sales, 8.2% were between AED3-5 million, 11.4% between AED2-3 million, 30.3% between AED1-2 million and 43.4% were below AED1 million.

BREAKDOWN OF RENTAL AGREEMENTS BY BEDROOMS TO DATE IN 2026

TOP TEN AREAS BY RENTAL CONTRACTS REGISTERED TO DATE IN 2026

TOP FIVE PERFORMING AREAS IN SALES VOLUME JULY 2026

                                                Off plan          Sales value     Re-sale                        Sales value