Dubai recorded the completion of 24 real estate projects valued at Dh4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) in the first six months of 2025 as the emirate experiences a property boom, according to the Dubai Land Department (DLD).
A total of 726 projects are under construction in the emirate, the regulator said on Sunday.
“The surge in ongoing development indicates the accelerated pace of project delivery to meet rising demand for standalone units and integrated residential communities,” the DLD said.
Dubai’s real estate market registered 90,337 new real estate units worth Dh151 billion during the January to June period, the data showed.
About 7,167 villas were sold in Dubai for over Dh28 billion, “reflecting a considered shift in buyer preferences toward standalone units and fully integrated residential communities”, the DLD said.
Dubai's property market, which bounced back strongly from the Covid-driven slowdown, has maintained a sharp growth trajectory since.
Government measures such as residency permits for retired and remote workers and expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme have boosted foreign investment flows into the emirate's property market over the past few years.
Watch: Here's what Dh1 million gets you in Dubai's property market today
The robust momentum in the UAE’s economy, the Arab world's second largest, driven by the government's diversification efforts have also supported the real estate market activity.
In July, a new scheme was also launched to help Emiratis and UAE residents, who do not own any freehold residential property in the emirate, get on the property ladder.
Under the initiative, first-time buyers will have priority access to new homes from participating developers as well as existing inventory, discounts or limited-time offers on the sales price of off-plan units, flexible payment plans and “improved” mortgage options with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees.
The DLD expects 5,000 more investors to enter the market this year following the initiative.
Last week, the Dubai Media Office said that the volume and value of real estate transactions in Dubai rose sharply in the first half of the year, amid the entry of more than 59,000 new investors into the market, according to DLD data.
Rental market
In Dubai’s rental market, 465,738 lease contracts were registered during the first six months of the year, compared to 462,657 in the same period last year. The total value of lease contracts reached nearly Dh42 billion, a 5 per cent annual increase.
New lease contracts recorded a 7 per cent rise, reaching 232,928, up from 217,101 in the same period last year, according to the DLD.
In a recent report, property consultancy Knight Frank showed that more than 51,000 homes were sold in Dubai in the second quarter of 2025, which was a year on year increase of 22.8 per cent, marking a quarterly record amid strong demand from buyers.
Total home sales passed 94,000, putting the market firmly “on track to exceed” 169,000 transactions recorded last year, it added.
Abu Dhabi's Masdar City and the DLD recently teamed up to allow the former's free zone companies to own properties in Dubai, in a bid to boost real estate investment across the UAE.
“Transaction volumes in Dubai are holding steady at a high base, supported by the scale and pace of new project launches,” said Farooq Syed, chief executive of Springfield Properties.
“We’re seeing particular strength in the off-plan segment where developers are responding to buyer expectations with flexible payment plans, and integrated masterplans designed for long-term community living."
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m, Winner SS Lamea, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer).
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m, Winner AF Makerah, Sean Kirrane, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m, Winner Maaly Al Reef, Brett Doyle, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,600m, Winner AF Momtaz, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m, Winner Morjanah Al Reef, Brett Doyle, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,200m, Winner Mudarrab, Jim Crowley, Erwan Charpy
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
