Dubai Rents and Yields: the Registry's Real Numbers, Area by Area

How much does a rental apartment in Dubai actually return? It depends on which return you look at, and the difference is not a detail. Buyers who entered the right projects at launch, on real registry cases, today collect between 8% and 14% on their own entry price. The market gross on existing stock, the most conservative yardstick there is, runs from 4.1% to 7.1% depending on the area: still roughly double the major European capitals. This guide gives you both numbers, measured on two public registries (the Dubai Land Department for sales, EJARI for rents), the full 17-area table, the method, and the items separating gross from net. Data extraction: October 2, 2026.

Three numbers to keep separate

First: the yield on launch price. That is what off-plan buyers earn when, at handover, they calculate the rent on their original entry price: on delivered projects in the areas we track it runs from 8% to 14% (real cases below). Second: the conservative market gross, this guide's table: today's EJARI rents divided by today's DLD prices. It is the floor, not the ceiling: it measures what buying existing stock at current values returns. Third: the international context: Dubai's average gross computed on asking rents sits around 7% (Global Property Guide, 2026), against 2-4% in London and roughly 3.2% in Paris. With one structural advantage on top: Dubai has no recurring ownership charges, only service fees, so gross sits far closer to operating net than in European capitals.

"I already earn these yields back home": the half-right objection

It is the sentence I hear most often when clients see this table: "I already earn these yields back home, sometimes higher". And it is half right, because it compares the rent alone. The full account is total return: yield plus appreciation, and the second half is the one almost nobody computes. In a mature market you buy today's yield and little else; in a market in full development you buy today's yield plus the trajectory of a city still building metro lines, an airport and entire districts. The registry measures that trajectory: the launch cases below show appreciation of +53%, +67%, up to +117% on the entry price of those who bought well, on top of the rent collected every year. It is the difference between an investment that yields and one that yields while it appreciates.

The conservative baseline: market gross on existing stock, area by area

This table is the floor, not the ceiling. The gross yield below is the ratio between the median annual rent per square metre registered on EJARI and the median sale price per square metre registered with the DLD over the last 30 days. Medians, not averages: the central value, less distorted by outliers. Two districts we track, Dubai Islands and Dubai Production City, are left out: registered tenancy contracts there are still too few for a robust median, and we would rather publish nothing than a fragile number. On units: the market often quotes in square feet, 1 sqm equals 10.76 sqft.

The pattern is clear: affordable districts yield more in percentage terms, prime districts defend capital better. Dubai Investments Park (7.1%), MBR City (7%) and Jumeirah Village Circle (6.4%) combine low entry prices with steady tenant demand; JBR, a mature beachfront with no off-plan pipeline, holds a 5.9% that is unusual for its bracket. Mid-table sit Jumeirah Village Triangle and Damac Hills (5.6%), Arjan (5.4%), Dubai Creek Harbour (5.1%), Downtown Dubai (5%), Dubai South (4.9%) and Business Bay (4.8%). At the lower end, Dubai Marina (4.7%), Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Palm Jumeirah and Al Furjan / Jebel Ali (4.5%), Dubailand (4.2%) and Al Jaddaf (4.1%): districts where prices have outpaced rents, because capital values are doing the heavy lifting. There is no single right answer: it depends on whether the goal is cash flow or capital preservation. One last thing about this table: it is a snapshot, and snapshots age by definition. The always-current version, recomputed nightly from the registry, lives in the Dubai districts ranking, with a detail page for every area.

Today's ranking is not tomorrow's

One reading mistake to avoid: treating this table as a final ranking. Today's gross yield is a snapshot, and in areas under construction it was taken before the infrastructure arrived. Dubai South yields 4.9% with Al Maktoum airport still being built: once it ramps up (an approved AED 128 billion plan, with operations progressively moving from DXB), tens of thousands of workers will look for homes next to their jobs, and that is the mechanism that historically pushes rents. Al Jaddaf, bottom of the table at 4.1%, gets a Blue Line metro stop in 2029 and sits next to Dubai Creek Harbour; Dubailand matures as its communities fill with schools and services. In other words: the areas at the bottom of the table are often where you buy tomorrow's rent at today's price. No promises, but it belongs next to the current number.

The method: what EJARI is and why this gross figure is conservative

EJARI (Arabic for "my rent") is the Dubai government system in which every tenancy contract must be registered to be valid. The rents we use come from there: signed, filed contracts, not listings or estimates. That makes our gross figure conservative by design: it compares today's median rent with today's median price, the price you would pay buying now. Anyone who bought earlier, or buys better, does better than the table. This is where the yield on launch price comes in: an off-plan buyer who entered at launch earns today's rent on their own entry price, not on current values. The registry lets us measure it on projects that have since been delivered:

• Binghatti Jasmine, Jumeirah Village Circle: launched in 2022 at AED 7,268/sqm (≈ $1,980/sqm); today's median area rent implies a 13.9% yield on the launch price, against 6.4% at market.
• Burj Royale, Downtown Dubai: launched in 2019 at AED 18,817/sqm (≈ $5,130/sqm); yield on launch price of 10.4%, against 5% at market.
• Palace Residences, Dubai Creek Harbour: launched in 2019 at AED 16,359/sqm (≈ $4,460/sqm); yield on launch price of 9.9%, against 5.1% at market.

The point is not that off-plan guarantees these numbers. It is that yield is decided on the day you buy, through the entry price. Across delivered projects in the districts we track, buyers who entered the right launches now show returns between 8% and 14% on their own price. The operative word is selection: developer, tower, payment plan and launch timing matter more than the district itself. It is a job of choosing, not of luck.

From gross to net: the items that matter

• Service charges: the annual quota for common areas, systems and building upkeep; it varies widely from tower to tower, even on the same street.
• Letting and management: tenant sourcing, contracts, collections, support; the weight changes if you manage remotely or appoint a property manager.
• Vacancy: the weeks between tenants, lighter in high-demand districts but never zero.
• Routine unit maintenance: small works and wear, heavier in older buildings than in recent handovers.

Dubai has no recurring ownership charges beyond service fees and the running costs of the investment itself. How much these items erode the gross depends on tower, unit size and tenant profile: two one-bedroom flats in the same district can produce markedly different net results. That is why the net calculation belongs to the specific case, not the district average: it is precisely the work I do, with the actual tower's charges and the EJARI rents for the actual unit type.

Long lets, short lets and regulated increases

Short-term letting (nightly, holiday-style) produces a higher gross but carries furnishing, utilities, platform commissions and active occupancy management: the honest comparison is on net figures, and it deserves its own guide, coming soon. On long leases, a protection many overlook applies: renewal increases are governed by the RERA index, which caps the permitted rise according to how far the current rent sits below the area's market value. If the rent is already in line, the permitted increase can be zero. A dedicated guide on this is also on the way.