The long view
The median price per square foot across Dubai was AED 921 in 2020, the last low. It reached AED 1,654 in 2025, a record and the fifth year up in a row. Every year from 2022 to 2025 it rose by 10% or more.
This year
So far in 2026 the city figure is up 2.3%. After four double-digit years, that is a clear slowdown, not a fall.
The split inside it
A city average can hide what is happening where you would buy. Compared with 2025, price per square foot this year is:
- Palm Jumeirah: up 10%
- Arjan apartments: up 6%
- Dubai South apartments: up 6%
- Dubai Creek Harbour apartments: up 4%
- Villas across Dubai: up 6%
- Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) apartments: down 2%
- Downtown apartments: down 8%
- Dubai Marina apartments: down 11%
Our read
The market is past the fast part of the cycle. Prime waterfront still climbs, while the busy central apartment areas have given back part of last year. For a buyer, that means room to negotiate in exactly the areas that rent most easily. We are wrong if the rate rises of this autumn keep coming and push cash buyers to wait, in which case prices can soften further before they settle.
The catch
"This year" compares nine months of 2026 with all of 2025. The direction is clear; the exact percentage will move by December.
Want to know which side your area is on? Ask us.
Source: Dubai Land Department transaction data, 2014 to September 2026.