Can a foreigner buy an office or a shop in Dubai?

Yes. In the areas designated for foreign ownership, buying a commercial unit follows the same process as residential property, with registration at the Dubai Land Department, and it is open to all nationalities, residents and non-residents alike.

What does Dubai commercial property yield?

On completed stock, EJARI contracts from the past twelve months give a gross yield above 8% for offices in the business districts and beyond 10% for retail in the best positions. Downtown Dubai stays below 5%, because there part of the price is the address.

Is an office or a retail unit the better buy?

It depends on how much management you want. An office has long leases and a stable tenant; retail has higher rent per square foot but depends on footfall, so the choice of the individual unit matters far more.

What does shell and core mean?

It is handover in bare condition: the unit arrives with structure, facade and main building services in place, while internal partitions, finishes and workstations are built afterwards. In commercial property this is standard, because the space is configured around the occupier.

What costs come on top of the purchase price?

Dubai Land Department registration at 4%, VAT which applies to commercial property, building service charges, fit-out where handover is shell and core, and leasing management if used. How much each line weighs varies considerably from building to building.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the Dubai Land Department registry: rents from EJARI lease contracts over the past twelve months, prices from sales of completed units over the past twenty-four. No estimates and no agency figures.

The registry · DLD data

Dubai commercial property: offices and retail for sale

Offices and retail units in Dubai are bought through the same process as homes and are open to all nationalities in the designated areas. The difference is the yield: on completed stock, registered rents give a gross return between 7% and 10%, against 4-7% for residential in the same districts.

Rents from EJARI contracts and prices from sales registered at the Dubai Land Department, updated to 10 November 2026.

Offices sold in 12 months

5,150

$6.94 bn traded over twelve months

63% of deals close below AED 3 million: this is not a fund-only market.

Retail units sold in 12 months

1,638

$1.83 bn traded over twelve months

A quarter of the office market by count, and the highest yields in Dubai commercial property.

What an office yields, district by district

The rent is the median of lease contracts registered in the district over the past twelve months. The price is that of completed offices, the only one comparable with a rent being collected today.

District	Rent Per sqm	Price Per sqm	Gross
Dubai Sports City	AED 1,200/m²≈ $325/m²	AED 12,100/m²≈ $3,300/m²	9.9%
Arjan	AED 1,150/m²≈ $313/m²	AED 11,720/m²≈ $3,190/m²	9.8%
Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT)	AED 1,490/m²≈ $405/m²	AED 16,920/m²≈ $4,610/m²	8.8%
Business Bay	AED 1,720/m²≈ $467/m²	AED 19,920/m²≈ $5,420/m²	8.6%
Dubai Marina	AED 2,150/m²≈ $586/m²	AED 27,680/m²≈ $7,540/m²	7.8%
Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC)	AED 1,080/m²≈ $293/m²	AED 14,340/m²≈ $3,910/m²	7.5%
Downtown Dubai	AED 2,740/m²≈ $747/m²	AED 55,000/m²≈ $14,980/m²	5%

Medians from EJARI contracts over the past 12 months and completed-office sales over the past 24. The yield is shown only where both samples hold. Source: Dubai Land Department.

What a retail unit yields, district by district

Same method, different market. A shop is taken by someone who sells, and there footfall counts for more than floor area: that is why retail rents per square foot beat offices almost everywhere.

District	Rent Per sqm	Price Per sqm	Gross
Dubai Marina	AED 2,490/m²≈ $677/m²	AED 23,100/m²≈ $6,290/m²	10.8%
Arjan	AED 1,870/m²≈ $509/m²	AED 17,850/m²≈ $4,860/m²	10.5%
Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC)	AED 2,360/m²≈ $643/m²	AED 24,960/m²≈ $6,800/m²	9.5%
Al Furjan / Jebel Ali	AED 2,670/m²≈ $727/m²	AED 28,600/m²≈ $7,790/m²	9.3%
Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT)	AED 1,800/m²≈ $490/m²	AED 20,700/m²≈ $5,640/m²	8.7%
Business Bay	AED 2,310/m²≈ $628/m²	AED 31,820/m²≈ $8,660/m²	7.3%
MBR City – Sobha Hartland	AED 3,390/m²≈ $924/m²	AED 50,080/m²≈ $13,640/m²	6.8%
Al Jaddaf	AED 1,950/m²≈ $530/m²	AED 42,190/m²≈ $11,490/m²	4.6%

Medians from EJARI contracts over the past 12 months and completed-retail sales over the past 24. The yield is shown only where both samples hold. Source: Dubai Land Department.

Why commercial yields more than residential

The reason is not a market secret, it is a difference in demand. A home is sought by a family, and once the rent passes a certain point the family moves district. An office is sought by a company whose staff are already there, whose clients are nearby and whose lease is up for renewal: moving costs it far more than paying the increase.

The registered numbers show it. In Dubai's business districts the gross yield on completed stock sits above 8%, while the same neighbourhood on residential runs between 4% and 7%. The office market is also running at roughly 95% occupancy, with new supply only arriving between 2028 and 2030.

Offices or retail: two different jobs

The office is the simpler product to run. It lets to a business, leases are long, the space is fitted once and lasts. Selection happens on the building before the district: floorplate depth, clear height and available power are what decide which company can move in at all.

Retail is another trade. Rent per square foot is higher, but it depends on something floorplans do not show: how many people walk past the window. Two units in the same building, one at the entrance and one at the end of a corridor, are not worth the same price and never will be. Buying retail means buying a position, not an area.

In both cases it is worth looking at stock that is already let. A unit that comes with a tenant inside and a running lease removes the void month between completion and the first rent, and tells you what that space is really worth on the leasing market.

The cost lines that change the arithmetic

On commercial property the budget is not the residential one. There is Dubai Land Department registration at 4% of the price, as with homes, and VAT, which applies to commercial and not to residential: a cash line to plan for and to run past your own accountant.

Then there are building service charges, which in commercial buildings follow a different logic from residential and should be requested in writing before signing, and fit-out where handover is shell and core. That last one is the most variable line and also the most negotiable, because commercial space is built around whoever occupies it.

The real numbers on the unit you are looking at

Send me the office or retail unit you are considering, new build or completed. I will put it next to the registered prices and rents for its own building and the ones around it, cost lines included, and tell you what the registry says.

Get in touch

Frequently asked

Can a foreigner buy an office or a shop in Dubai?: Yes. In the areas designated for foreign ownership, buying a commercial unit follows the same process as residential property, with registration at the Dubai Land Department, and it is open to all nationalities, residents and non-residents alike.
What does Dubai commercial property yield?: On completed stock, EJARI contracts from the past twelve months give a gross yield above 8% for offices in the business districts and beyond 10% for retail in the best positions. Downtown Dubai stays below 5%, because there part of the price is the address.
Is an office or a retail unit the better buy?: It depends on how much management you want. An office has long leases and a stable tenant; retail has higher rent per square foot but depends on footfall, so the choice of the individual unit matters far more.
What does shell and core mean?: It is handover in bare condition: the unit arrives with structure, facade and main building services in place, while internal partitions, finishes and workstations are built afterwards. In commercial property this is standard, because the space is configured around the occupier.
What costs come on top of the purchase price?: Dubai Land Department registration at 4%, VAT which applies to commercial property, building service charges, fit-out where handover is shell and core, and leasing management if used. How much each line weighs varies considerably from building to building.
Where do these numbers come from?: From the Dubai Land Department registry: rents from EJARI lease contracts over the past twelve months, prices from sales of completed units over the past twenty-four. No estimates and no agency figures.