Dubai records 296 luxury home sales above $10 million in H1 2026
Luxury homes and rentals hit records while wider H1 sales softened
Dubai: Dubai’s property market is entering the second half of 2026 with two clear signals for buyers and investors. Luxury homes and rentals are still setting records, while the wider residential market has eased from last year’s pace.
The strongest activity remains at the top end of the market. Dubai recorded 296 home sales worth more than $10 million in the first half of 2026, according to Knight Frank, with the value of these deals rising 14% year on year to $5.1 billion.
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That was also 16% higher than the number of $10 million-plus deals recorded in the first half of 2025 and 49% higher than H1 2024, showing that global wealth is still flowing into Dubai’s prime residential market despite regional uncertainty.
Knight Frank said 165 homes above $10 million were sold in the first quarter, followed by 131 in the second quarter. The first half also included a record 26 deals above $25 million.
Super-prime homes lead the market
Dubai Hills Estate was the strongest-performing luxury location in H1, with 51 homes sold for more than $10 million. Palm Jumeirah followed closely with 50 deals, while Palm Jebel Ali recorded 40 luxury transactions ahead of its scheduled completion in 2028.
The most expensive transaction in the first half was a six-bedroom apartment at Aman Residences in Jumeirah Second, developed by H&H Investment and Development, which sold for $114.9 million, or Dh422 million.
Faisal Durrani, Partner and Head of Research, MENA at Knight Frank, said Dubai’s luxury market has “consistently broken records over the last five years,” adding that most of the latest recorded deals were closed before the recent regional conflict but registered later because of the usual four-to-six-week delay.
Market activity has not stopped, he said, because Dubai’s core strengths remain in place, including infrastructure, global connectivity, a pro-business environment, lifestyle, education and healthcare.
Dubai’s luxury market has consistently broken records over the last five years. Considering the current regional conflict, this new record is showcasing deals that were mostly closed pre-conflict but have a four to six weeks delay in registration.
Wider market eases from 2025 peak
The broader residential market remains busy, but the pace has cooled from last year. Cavendish Maxwell said residential sales reached Dh221.3 billion across almost 79,200 transactions in the first half of 2026.
That puts overall H1 residential sales just under 14% below the same period last year, while total sales values were down 15.7%.
June, however, showed a rebound after a quieter May. Cavendish Maxwell said nearly 12,315 residential transactions worth Dh25.17 billion were recorded in June, compared with 9,500 purchases worth Dh22 billion in May.
Ronan Arthur, Director and Head of Residential Valuation at Cavendish Maxwell, explained that the recovery followed a quieter May partly affected by the Eid holiday, with transactions rising almost 30% month on month. Some of that increase reflected deals deferred from May, but the rebound showed that investor confidence remained resilient despite regional uncertainty.
Off-plan sales continued to dominate June activity, with 9,442 transactions accounting for 76% of the market. The value of off-plan sales rose to Dh17.6 billion, up from Dh15.2 billion in May.
While some of the increase reflects deals deferred from May, the recovery indicates investor confidence remained resilient despite recent regional uncertainty.
June brings strong sales activity
A separate market analysis from fäm Properties, based on open data from DXBinteract, showed an even stronger June performance across the wider market, with 13,933 sales transactions worth Dh33.2 billion.
That represented a 35.5% month-on-month increase in transaction volume and a 14.9% rise in value. The second quarter closed with 38,157 deals worth Dh110.2 billion, while the first half recorded 86,077 sales transactions worth Dh286.2 billion.
Primary sales remained ahead of resale activity in June, with 10,398 transactions worth Dh21.6 billion, compared with 3,535 resale transactions valued at Dh11.6 billion.
Villa sales rose 46.5% month on month to 1,474 transactions worth Dh7.5 billion, while apartment sales climbed 32.3% to 11,605 deals worth Dh17.8 billion. Commercial property sales also increased, with offices and shops recording 478 deals worth Dh2.3 billion.
Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties, said buyers and tenants were showing growing confidence across rentals, sales and individual property sectors.
Dubai South keeps gaining ground
Dubai South was the best-performing area for the fourth consecutive month, recording 2,869 transactions worth Dh3.3 billion in June, according to fäm Properties.
The area posted a 111% rise in transaction volume and a 106% increase in value month on month. It has now ranked among Dubai’s top five performing locations for eight straight months, with growth led largely by developer off-plan sales.
The consistent performance of Dubai South is what moves a location from emerging to established in buyers' minds, and this is also a good sign for the market's long-term direction
Jebel Ali First, Al Barsha South Fourth, Wadi Al Safa 5 and Al Thanya Fifth were also among the top-performing areas in June.
Rentals hit monthly record
Dubai’s rental market also reached a new high in June. fäm Properties said 40,022 rental contracts were registered during the month, the highest monthly total on record.
New rental contracts rose 48.6% year on year to 19,245, while renewed contracts increased 28.5% to 20,777. The data points to demand from new tenants entering the market as well as existing residents choosing to stay.
According to rental technology platform Rently, Dubai recorded Dh32.2 billion in rental contract value across 253,992 new and renewed tenancy contracts in the first quarter of 2026. Rental contract cancellations declined by 25%, which the company said reflected growing stability in the market.
Rently’s own customer data showed that more than 56% of users are renting homes priced between Dh50,000 and Dh100,000 a year. The median annual lease value on the platform stands at Dh72,000, while the average is Dh92,000, placing flexible rent payments firmly in the mid-market segment.
Rent has traditionally been one of the few major household expenses that hasn’t evolved alongside the way people manage their finances. Today, we’re seeing customers increasingly choose payment structures that fit around monthly salaries and modern budgeting habits.
Knight Frank noted that the current cycle is also different from previous downturns because the market now has a larger share of end-users. Durrani said 25% of homes were resold within 12 months of purchase in 2008, compared with 4% last year, indicating lower speculative activity.
That has helped completed neighbourhoods, especially villa-led communities, show more price stability during the recent period of regional uncertainty.
Price pressure still visible
Knight Frank said prices across Dubai’s mainstream market have softened by 5% to 20%, depending on location, as some owners and investors exit the market, including motivated sellers who may still be booking gains after the strong run-up in prices over the past five-and-a-half years.
Nicholas Spencer, Partner and Head of Residential, MENA at Knight Frank, said the full effect of the regional conflict may only become clearer in the autumn, assuming conditions remain stable.
With the muted summer months now underway, transaction volumes may slow further. However, the first-half data show that Dubai’s property market is still being supported by off-plan demand and record rental activity.
