Dubai rental yield by area: purchase price against annual rent
The calculation is simple and still rarely shown in the open: monthly rent times twelve, divided by the purchase price. Both sides come from Dubai Land Department registers, but from two different ones. Purchase prices come from the sale contract register, rents from the Ejari contract register and from new leases only. Source: Dubai Land Department, sale contract register, September 2026. Source: Dubai Land Department, Ejari contract register, September 2026, new contracts only. Five areas carry enough data in both registers: Arjan, Business Bay, Downtown Dubai, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Marina, Dubai Sports City, Jumeirah Village Circle and Mirdif. The register files them as Al Barshaa South Third, Business Bay, Burj Khalifa, Al Khairan First, Marsa Dubai, Al Hebiah Fourth, Al Barsha South Fourth and Mirdif. Two notes on that: Al Hebiah Fourth covers parts of Tilal Al Ghaf as well as Dubai Sports City, so those rows describe the register area rather than Sports City alone. And only resale stock is used, because off-plan produces no rent before handover.
The calculation, area by area
Sorted by gross yield, highest first. Every row carries two sample sizes: the number of sale contracts and the number of lease contracts behind it. A row only appears here if both sides hold at least 40 contracts.
| Area | Type | Sale contracts | Median sale price | Rent contracts | Median monthly rent | Annual rent | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Sports City | Studio | 195 | AED 436,455 | 576 | AED 3,333 | AED 39,996 | 9.2 percent |
| Dubai Sports City | 1 bedroom | 248 | AED 672,457 | 525 | AED 4,972 | AED 59,664 | 8.9 percent |
| Dubai Sports City | 2 bedrooms | 155 | AED 1,010,000 | 228 | AED 7,083 | AED 84,996 | 8.4 percent |
| Arjan | Studio | 219 | AED 550,000 | 719 | AED 3,750 | AED 45,000 | 8.2 percent |
| Arjan | 1 bedroom | 276 | AED 852,500 | 606 | AED 5,796 | AED 69,552 | 8.2 percent |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 1 bedroom | 970 | AED 859,880 | 963 | AED 5,833 | AED 69,996 | 8.1 percent |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | Studio | 417 | AED 581,000 | 752 | AED 3,750 | AED 45,000 | 7.7 percent |
| Dubai Marina | 1 bedroom | 545 | AED 1,150,000 | 755 | AED 7,083 | AED 84,996 | 7.4 percent |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 2 bedrooms | 324 | AED 1,280,000 | 229 | AED 7,500 | AED 90,000 | 7.0 percent |
| Arjan | 2 bedrooms | 142 | AED 1,370,000 | 210 | AED 7,916 | AED 94,992 | 6.9 percent |
| Downtown Dubai | 3 bedrooms | 103 | AED 4,530,000 | 501 | AED 25,833 | AED 309,996 | 6.8 percent |
| Downtown Dubai | Studio | 43 | AED 1,080,000 | 90 | AED 6,023 | AED 72,276 | 6.7 percent |
| Business Bay | 1 bedroom | 502 | AED 1,301,210 | 756 | AED 7,198 | AED 86,376 | 6.6 percent |
| Business Bay | Studio | 274 | AED 935,000 | 733 | AED 5,000 | AED 60,000 | 6.4 percent |
| Business Bay | 3 bedrooms | 127 | AED 2,750,000 | 125 | AED 14,583 | AED 174,996 | 6.4 percent |
| Downtown Dubai | 1 bedroom | 313 | AED 1,741,000 | 643 | AED 9,166 | AED 109,992 | 6.3 percent |
| Dubai Marina | 2 bedrooms | 421 | AED 2,000,000 | 590 | AED 10,416 | AED 124,992 | 6.2 percent |
| Downtown Dubai | 2 bedrooms | 315 | AED 2,906,250 | 962 | AED 15,000 | AED 180,000 | 6.2 percent |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 1 bedroom | 222 | AED 1,500,000 | 1,339 | AED 7,500 | AED 90,000 | 6.0 percent |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 3 bedrooms | 108 | AED 3,538,238 | 149 | AED 17,500 | AED 210,000 | 5.9 percent |
| Business Bay | 2 bedrooms | 320 | AED 2,057,478 | 355 | AED 10,000 | AED 120,000 | 5.8 percent |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 2 bedrooms | 316 | AED 2,350,000 | 743 | AED 11,250 | AED 135,000 | 5.7 percent |
| Dubai Marina | 3 bedrooms | 158 | AED 3,203,170 | 316 | AED 15,000 | AED 180,000 | 5.6 percent |
Source: Dubai Land Department, sale contract register, September 2026. Source: Dubai Land Department, Ejari contract register, September 2026, new contracts only.
The range runs from 9.2 percent down to 5.6 percent. The cheap areas sit at the top: a studio in the Al Hebiah Fourth register area has a median purchase price of AED 436,455 across 195 sale contracts and lets at AED 3,333 a month across 576 lease contracts, so AED 39,996 a year. Arjan follows on AED 550,000 from 219 sale contracts against AED 45,000 of annual rent from 719 leases. The expensive addresses sit at the bottom: three bedrooms in Dubai Marina, AED 3,203,170 purchase median from 158 contracts against AED 180,000 annual rent from 316 lease contracts.
What the number does not include
This is a gross yield. It carries no transaction costs, no vacancy, no maintenance and no financing cost. On the letting side the rates available to us are: Ejari registration AED 220, DEWA deposit for an apartment AED 2,000, agency commission at 5 percent of the annual rent and a security deposit at 5 percent of the annual rent for an unfurnished let. Building service charges are not included because we hold no figures for them. Purchase side costs are not quoted here for the same reason. Anyone wanting a net figure has to subtract those items themselves. None of this is investment advice; it is a division.
Rows with samples that are too small
These combinations hold fewer than 40 contracts on at least one side. They are kept separate so nobody reads them alongside the table above. Mirdif appears only here, because every bedroom count there stays below 30 sale contracts; its studio and three bedroom rows are dropped altogether, as fewer than ten sale contracts stand behind them.
| Area | Type | Sale contracts | Median sale price | Rent contracts | Median monthly rent | Annual rent | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Bay | 4 bedrooms | 25 | AED 4,500,000 | 17 | AED 42,307 | AED 507,684 | 11.3 percent |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 3 bedrooms | 35 | AED 1,809,180 | 62 | AED 11,458 | AED 137,496 | 7.6 percent |
| Arjan | 3 bedrooms | 27 | AED 1,900,000 | 26 | AED 10,416 | AED 124,992 | 6.6 percent |
| Dubai Marina | 4 bedrooms | 37 | AED 4,100,000 | 55 | AED 21,666 | AED 259,992 | 6.3 percent |
| Mirdif | 1 bedroom | 10 | AED 950,000 | 90 | AED 4,916 | AED 58,992 | 6.2 percent |
| Mirdif | 2 bedrooms | 26 | AED 1,394,000 | 152 | AED 6,416 | AED 76,992 | 5.5 percent |
| Dubai Sports City | 3 bedrooms | 23 | AED 1,800,000 | 28 | AED 7,958 | AED 95,496 | 5.3 percent |
Source: Dubai Land Department, sale contract register, September 2026. Source: Dubai Land Department, Ejari contract register, September 2026, new contracts only. The clearest case is the top row. In Business Bay the four bedroom rent median rests on 17 new leases whose middle half spans AED 22,500 to AED 66,666 per month. No yield can be drawn from a spread like that. Mirdif has the opposite problem: its one bedroom rent median rests on 90 new leases while the purchase side offers only 10 sale contracts. One half of the division holds, the other does not.
How solid the arithmetic is
One caveat belongs on the page: numerator and denominator do not describe the same apartment. The rent median comes from the units that were let in an area, the purchase median from the units that were sold. Both are medians over the same area and the same bedroom count, not over the same property. Large samples smooth that out, which is why the Jumeirah Village Circle row built on 970 sale contracts and 963 lease contracts is far more reliable than a row resting on two digit counts. Bedroom counts are recorded in the sale register and derived from floor area in the lease register, and those area classes overlap: 10 to 90 percent of two bedroom units fall between 92 and 149 m2.
Questions and answers
Where is gross yield highest?
In the cheaper areas. The Al Hebiah Fourth register area covering Dubai Sports City leads the table at 9.2 percent for studios and 8.9 percent for one bedroom units. Arjan follows with a studio at 8.2 percent and Jumeirah Village Circle with a one bedroom at 8.1 percent. That is structural: the lower the purchase price per square metre, the higher the yield, as long as the rent holds up.
Why do prime areas sit at the bottom?
Because the purchase price rises faster than the rent. Two bedrooms in Dubai Creek Harbour cost AED 2,350,000 at the median from 316 sale contracts and produce AED 135,000 of annual rent, which is 5.7 percent. One bedroom units come out at 6.6 percent in Business Bay and 7.4 percent in Dubai Marina, while two bedroom units in Downtown Dubai return 6.2 percent.
Can I value my own unit with this?
As a reference frame, yes. Take the purchase price of your unit, multiply the local monthly rent for that bedroom count by twelve and divide. A result far above the table means checking the rent assumption; far below it means checking the price.
You do not have what I am looking for?
If the area or bedroom count you need is missing here, say so in the form below this page, together with your budget and whether you plan to let the unit or live in it. The enquiry goes to brokers in Dubai. We sell nothing ourselves and give no investment advice.
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