AED
March 2026 was a month of fewer deals and higher prices. Dubai recorded 13,501 property sales worth AED 43.39 billion across all property types, the highest value for any March on record, even though apartment, villa and commercial volumes fell 10% year on year.
The quieter count has an obvious seasonal explanation: Ramadan ran through most of the month and Eid Al Fitr closed it out, with registrations slowing sharply over the holiday. What stands out is pricing. Every property category posted its highest March price per square foot in 13 years of data, which tells us demand is being expressed in what buyers pay, not just how many of them show up.
March 2026 in numbers
Total sales value rose 1% to AED 38.99 billion across apartments, villas and commercial units, while transaction count dropped 10% to 13,322. Adding plots and buildings takes the month to 13,501 deals and AED 43.39 billion.
Apartments accounted for 10,680 deals worth AED 22.26 billion, at a median of AED 1,750/sqft. Villas recorded 2,230 deals worth AED 14.55 billion, with the median price up 15% to AED 1,687/sqft. Commercial units saw 412 deals worth AED 2.18 billion, up 81%, while plots added 175 deals worth AED 4.39 billion.
Apartments remain the core of the market. The 978 fewer deals than March 2025 made apartments the main drag on volume, but the median ticket still climbed 5% to AED 1.375 million.
Villas had their slowest March since 2021, yet value held flat because the median villa price jumped 22% to AED 4.06 million. Fewer buyers, each paying considerably more.
Commercial was the only category to grow in count, and its value nearly doubled on a shift towards larger, higher-value assets. It points to sustained appetite for quality office and retail stock rather than a broad rise in deal flow.
Off-plan still leads the market
Developer sales took 77% of both volume and value in March: 10,237 deals worth AED 29.91 billion. Resale accounted for the remaining 23%, or 3,085 deals worth AED 9.08 billion.
Off-plan stock also traded at a premium, with a median of AED 1,775/sqft against AED 1,577/sqft on the secondary market. Payment plans, launch pricing and the pull of new master communities in the south of the city continue to drive that gap.
Supply is building. Twelve projects launched 4,053 units in March while twelve projects delivered 2,025, a launch-to-handover ratio of 2:1. Notable launches included Binghatti Skyflame 1 and 2 in Wadi Al Safa 3 (2,208 units combined), Damac Islands 2 – Antigua 1 (468 units) and Aldar’s The Wilds Residences 3 (375 units). Handovers included Emaar’s The Valley – Elora, Tiger’s Neva Residences in Al Barsha South and Ellington House II in MBR City.
Prices and rents
The all-property median reached AED 1,742/sqft in March, and every category set a March record. Villas showed the sharpest move at +15% year on year, now 125% above their 2014 level.
On the leasing side, tenants are staying put. New apartment leases fell 29% to 7,731 contracts, while 12,823 apartment renewals were signed, down only 5%. Rents kept rising across almost every segment.
Median apartment rents rose 5% to AED 72,450 a year on new leases and 7% to AED 59,000 on renewals. Villa renewals rose 5% to AED 162,000, while commercial rents climbed 12% on new leases to AED 140,000 and 9% on renewals to AED 120,000.
New villa leases were the one soft spot, with the median rent slipping about 3% to AED 180,000. For apartment tenants, the gap of roughly AED 13,000 a year between renewing and moving is a strong reason to stay.
Where the activity was
Dubai South was the busiest district in March with 1,000 transactions, and the wider southern corridor dominated both lists.
By value, the top five districts were Al Yelayiss 5 (AED 3.41 billion), Al Yelayiss 1 (AED 2.62 billion), Dubai South (AED 1.69 billion), Business Bay (AED 1.60 billion) and Wadi Al Safa 3 (AED 1.59 billion). By volume, Dubai South led ahead of Al Barsha South Fourth, home to JVC (903 deals), Wadi Al Safa 5 (851), Al Yelayiss 1 (820) and Wadi Al Safa 3 (770).
Al Yelayiss 5 and Al Yelayiss 1 are land-heavy master-development zones, home to large villa and island projects, which explains their outsized value. Business Bay was the only central district in the top five.
At the top end, two units at Aman Residences in Jumeirah Second sold for AED 422 million and AED 356 million, the month’s largest apartment deals by a wide margin. The biggest villa sale was AED 95 million on Palm Jumeirah, followed by AED 60 million in Emirates Living and AED 59.5 million in MBR City.
Other headlines from March
- Brokerage had a record 2025. DLD figures released in March showed broker commissions up 31% to AED 13.59 billion and broker-led transactions up 54% to 96,440. Registered brokers reached 32,294, with 13,083 new entrants.
- Construction is accelerating. Dubai Municipality issued 10,776 building permits in Q1 2026, up 12% year on year, and approved built-up area rose 48% to nearly 3.9 million sqm.
- DIFC Square completed ahead of schedule. The 600,000 sq ft office project was fully pre-leased before handover, part of 1.6 million sq ft of commercial space DIFC plans to deliver in 2026–2027.
- Record endowment pledge. Reif Properties pledged 100 residential units worth about AED 100 million to the Real Estate Developers’ Endowment, run by Awqaf Dubai with DLD.
- City Walk Phase 3 moves forward. Empower signed with Meraas to supply over 17,500 refrigeration tonnes of district cooling to the next phase of City Walk.
The Vetra View
March’s dip in deal count is a Ramadan effect, not a demand problem. Record prices across every category, a value record for the month and a construction pipeline growing at double digits all point the same way: Dubai’s market is maturing, not cooling.
For buyers: Quieter months are good for negotiating, especially on ready villas where fewer buyers are competing. Off-plan carries a premium of around 12% per sq ft over resale, so compare carefully before paying for a payment plan.
For investors: With launches running at twice the pace of handovers, choose projects by developer delivery record and community fundamentals, not launch-day pricing. Rising commercial values and fully pre-leased office stock like DIFC Square make the commercial segment worth a closer look.
For tenants and landlords: Renewal rents are rising faster than new-lease rents, yet staying is still cheaper than moving for most apartment tenants. Landlords should expect longer tenancies and fewer vacancies, priced in line with the RERA rental index.
Thinking about buying, selling or leasing in Dubai? Speak to the Vetra Real Estate team for a view on your specific community.
