Dubai apartment sales hit AED 183.3 billion, three-quarters off-plan

Summary

• Dubai apartment sales reached AED 183.3 billion across 102,016 records through 19 October 2026.
• Off-plan projects took 74.9% of all apartment sale records, versus 25.1% for completed units.
• The mix ties the market's health to developers' ability to deliver unfinished projects.

The latest

Residential apartment sales in Dubai totalled about AED 183.3 billion between 1 January and 19 October 2026, spread across 102,016 sale records. Projects still under construction accounted for nearly three out of every four of those records, according to an analytical reading by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) of open data published by the Dubai Land Department, released on Friday 30 October.

Details

• The headline number: Apartment sales reached roughly AED 183.3 billion over the first nine and a half months of 2026, logged through 102,016 individual sale records, according to WAM's reading of Dubai Land Department open data. The figure covers residential apartments only, not villas or other property categories.
• The off-plan split: Projects sold before completion accounted for 76,386 sale records, or 74.9% of the total, against 25,630 records for finished properties at 25.1%. That means buyers committed capital to units still under construction in roughly three of every four transactions recorded this year.
• One-bedroom units lead: One-bedroom apartments were the single largest category with 41,322 sale records. Of those, 30,395 were off-plan and 10,927 were completed properties, giving projects under development a 73.6% share of the segment — close to the market-wide average.
• Studios skew hardest: Studios ranked second with 31,467 sale records, of which 25,765 were off-plan and 5,702 completed. At 81.9%, studios carried the highest off-plan share among the main unit categories, making the smallest and cheapest units the most exposed to construction timelines.
• Two-bedroom segment: Two-bedroom apartments recorded 22,962 sales, split between 16,142 off-plan and 6,820 completed records. The segment's off-plan share sits below that of studios and one-bedrooms, pointing to relatively stronger demand for ready stock among larger family units.
• Category concentration: The three categories detailed — studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments — together account for 95,751 of the 102,016 sale records, or about 94% of all apartment transactions logged in the period. Smaller and larger unit types make up the remainder.
• The source and timing: The figures come from Dubai Land Department open data, compiled and published by WAM on Friday 30 October. The reading covers a defined window ending 19 October 2026 and does not set out comparable totals for earlier years.
• What is not specified: The published reading does not break the AED 183.3 billion total into off-plan versus completed value, nor does it identify the developers, projects or communities behind the transaction volumes. Average price per record is not given either.

Background

Off-plan sales let buyers pay in instalments during construction, with the developer delivering later. The model expands volumes quickly but shifts completion risk onto buyers and the banks financing them, making delivery performance the key variable behind headline sales figures.

Between the lines

With 76,386 of this year's records tied to unbuilt units, the reported sales value represents commitments more than completed transfers. The concentration is sharpest in studios at 81.9%, the entry-level segment most associated with investor and small-ticket buying. Any slippage in developer delivery schedules would therefore register first in the smallest unit categories, where off-plan exposure is highest.

What's next

Watch the Dubai Land Department's full-year 2026 data for whether the off-plan share holds above 70%, and for completion and handover volumes that would show whether delivery is keeping pace with recorded sales.

Source: Emirates News Agency (WAM), Dubai Land Department