Someone paid AED422 million for a property at Aman Residences Tower 2 during the first quarter of 2026. The most expensive villa? AED350 million at Jumeirah First.
Those eye-watering figures bookend a three-month period that saw Dubai’s property market rack up 47,996 sales transactions worth AED176.7 billion, according to analysis released Thursday by fäm Properties. Transaction volumes climbed 5.5% year-on-year, but values surged 23.4%—a divergence that tells its own story about where buyers are placing their bets.
Off-plan properties dominated the landscape. They accounted for 70% of all sales by volume and 71% by value, reflecting a steady pipeline of launches from major developers and, perhaps, a calculated gamble on future appreciation rather than immediate occupancy. By March alone, off-plan deals totalled 10,303 transactions worth AED31.2 billion, marking increases of 5.4% in volume and 8.9% in value compared to the same month in 2025.
The momentum persisted despite what Firas Al Msaddi, chief executive of fäm Properties, characterised as “regional uncertainty.”
“The market continues to show clear resilience even against a backdrop of regional uncertainty,” Al Msaddi said. “The investor confidence we’re seeing now is built on strong fundamentals, transparency and long-term growth drivers that remain firmly in place.”
What those fundamentals reveal, though, is a market pulling in different directions simultaneously.
Apartments led transaction volumes with 36,428 sales worth AED75.2 billion—a 10.5% jump in value. Villas followed with 8,261 deals totalling AED59.1 billion, representing a 17.9% spike in volume year-on-year. But the real outlier? Commercial properties, including offices and shops, which soared 69.1% in value to AED10.2 billion despite transaction volumes actually slipping 0.6% to 2,048 deals. Fewer transactions, vastly higher prices—a signal that premium commercial assets are attracting serious capital.
Plots, meanwhile, told a different story entirely. Sales volume edged up 3.2% to 1,193 transactions, and values rose 14.3% to AED31.9 billion. Yet median resale prices for plots plummeted 38.3% to AED4.8 million, suggesting buyers increasingly favour developed or soon-to-be-developed properties over raw land.
The primary market reflected similar preferences. Median villa prices climbed 35.3% year-on-year to AED4.1 million, whilst off-plan apartments rose a more modest 3.1% to AED1.4 million. Plots, however, dropped 23.6%—evidence of a decisive shift in appetite.
Resale trends reinforced the pattern. Villa prices increased 16.2% to AED4.3 million compared to 2025, now sitting 35.1% above 2014 levels. Apartment resale prices gained 6.3% year-on-year, also reaching AED4.3 million. Plot resale prices? Down 38.3%.
Mortgage activity offered another lens into market dynamics. Transactions totalled 11,829 in the first quarter, up 7.5% year-on-year, with a combined value of AED59.8 billion—a 46% surge that outpaced volume growth significantly. In the resale segment, cash deals still ruled, accounting for 67% of activity versus 33% for mortgage-backed purchases. The data, compiled from DXBinteract, pointed to a buyer base with substantial liquidity.
Transaction hotspots revealed where that liquidity was flowing. Al Barsha South Fourth recorded the highest volume with 3,162 deals worth AED4 billion, followed by Dubai South with 2,889 transactions totalling AED5.4 billion. Al Yelayiss 1 attracted 2,885 sales valued at AED12.9 billion—a higher per-transaction average that suggested a different buyer profile than the more budget-focused emerging communities.
Among primary market apartments, Binghatti Vintage logged 539 sales worth AED412.4 million, with a median price of AED699,000. Maybach 6 Tower B followed with 403 transactions totalling AED689.6 million at a median of AED1.4 million. For primary villas, DAMAC Islands 2 projects dominated the top five, with the Bahamas 2 development alone recording 376 sales worth AED1.2 billion at a median price of AED2.8 million.
The resale market showed different preferences. Peninsula Four led apartment resales with 62 deals valued at AED151.7 million and a median price of AED2.2 million. For villas, Rukan 3 topped the list with 46 sales worth AED65.4 million at a median of AED1.2 million, whilst Jumeirah Village Triangle recorded 41 transactions totalling AED203.2 million—a median of AED5 million that reflected the premium attached to established communities.
Whether this pace proves sustainable remains an open question. The first quarter’s performance suggested confidence, certainly, and data points to genuine demand rather than speculative froth. Yet the wild swings between property types—commercial rocketing upward, plots cratering downward—hint at a market in transition, recalibrating preferences in real time.
For now, though, the numbers speak clearly enough. Nearly 48,000 transactions in three months. AED176.7 billion changing hands. And somewhere in Aman Residences Tower 2, a new owner contemplating the view from a AED422 million property.
