Published 2026-08-28
The Dubai Land Department (DLD) registered 3,657 real estate transactions worth AED 12 billion in one week, according to the weekly bulletin reported by Emirates 24/7 on 2026-08-28. Sales accounted for 2,564 transactions and AED 7.2 billion, mortgages for 939 transactions and AED 4 billion, and gift transfers for 154 transactions and AED 736 million. Off-plan property sales reached AED 4.6 billion from 985 deals, ready property sales AED 2.6 billion from 1,579 deals. The Burj Khalifa area led the emirate by sales value with AED 845 million, ahead of Airport City (AED 491 million) and Al Yafra 1 (AED 489 million). This article breaks the week down by transaction type, area and deal size, sets it against the AED 419.94 billion first half of 2026, and explains what the numbers mean for a foreign buyer or a company that is about to register a Dubai property.
The week in numbers
DLD publishes its weekly figures in three buckets: sales, mortgages and gifts. The bulletin does not name the calendar dates of the week, so we quote it as the week reported on 2026-08-28.
| Transaction type | Number of transactions | Value | Share of weekly value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 2,564 | AED 7.2 billion | 60% |
| Mortgages | 939 | AED 4 billion | 33% |
| Gift transfers | 154 | AED 736 million | 6% |
| Total | 3,657 | AED 12 billion | 100% |
Within sales, 2,161 transactions were residential units, 238 were land plots and 165 were whole buildings. Mortgages followed a similar pattern: 576 registered against residential units, 237 against land and 126 against buildings. Shares in the table are our arithmetic on the DLD totals and are rounded.
Off-plan AED 4.6 billion against ready AED 2.6 billion
Off-plan sales, which are contracts for units still under construction registered through DLD’s Oqood system, produced AED 4.6 billion from 985 deals. Ready, or completed, property sales produced AED 2.6 billion from 1,579 deals. The two figures together give AED 7.2 billion, the sales total for the week.
The split says something about ticket size. Dividing value by count, the average off-plan deal in the week was about AED 4.7 million and the average ready deal about AED 1.65 million. Off-plan therefore delivered 64% of sales value from 38% of sales transactions. Part of that gap is explained by the whole-building and land deals that DLD books inside the off-plan and ready totals, including the AED 471 million sale in the Burj Khalifa area described below, so the averages should be read as an order of magnitude rather than a market price.
For the first half of 2026 as a whole, DLD data reported by Emirates 24/7 on 2026-07-20 showed the opposite balance by value: completed property sales of AED 146.69 billion across 27,160 transactions against off-plan sales of AED 139.75 billion across 58,840 transactions. In other words, off-plan dominates by number of deals in both the half-year and the week, while value swings between the two segments from week to week depending on which large assets change hands.
Where the money went: five areas by sales value
| Rank | Area (DLD registration name) | Sales value in the week |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burj Khalifa | AED 845 million |
| 2 | Airport City | AED 491 million |
| 3 | Al Yafra 1 | AED 489 million |
| 4 | Dubailand Residential Complex | AED 286 million |
| 5 | Me’aisem First | AED 259 million |
The five areas together account for AED 2.37 billion, or roughly a third of the week’s AED 7.2 billion in sales. DLD ranks areas by its own registration districts, which is why the list mixes a downtown district (Burj Khalifa) with peripheral zones such as Al Yafra 1 and Me’aisem First, where large land and building transactions can push a single week’s figure up sharply.
Three record deals in the Burj Khalifa area
The Burj Khalifa district, which covers Downtown Dubai around the tower, the Dubai Mall and the Opera District, produced the week’s largest individual transactions:
- a mortgage registered against a whole building worth AED 725 million, which on its own is 18% of the week’s AED 4 billion mortgage total;
- a sale worth AED 471 million, the largest single sale of the week;
- an off-plan apartment in Cedarwood Estate sold for AED 34 million.
The AED 34 million apartment is the kind of deal that moves the off-plan average. Excluding it and the AED 471 million sale, the remaining off-plan and ready transactions still produced more than AED 6.6 billion, so the week was broad rather than driven by two trophies.
How one week compares with the first half of 2026
DLD recorded AED 419.94 billion in real estate transactions across 112,850 transactions in January to June 2026, of which sales were AED 286.44 billion through 86,000 deals. Spread over 26 weeks, that is an average of about AED 16.2 billion and 4,340 transactions per week. The week reported on 2026-08-28, at AED 12 billion and 3,657 transactions, runs below that average by both measures.
The comparison needs one adjustment. The first quarter of 2026 alone brought AED 252 billion, according to the Dubai Land Department’s own release, which leaves about AED 168 billion for the second quarter, or roughly AED 12.9 billion per week. Against the second-quarter pace the week of AED 12 billion is close to trend. The half-year figure is also inflated by the record off-plan office segment: AED 13.1 billion across 1,668 deals in six months, more than the AED 5.48 billion that the segment recorded in the seven years from 2019 to 2025 combined. We covered the supply side of the same period, 104 completed projects and 24,537 new units, in Dubai Completes 104 Projects and 24,537 Property Units Worth AED 111 Billion in H1 2026, and the second-half outlook in Dubai Property Market Set for Strong H2 2026.
What the weekly numbers mean for a buyer or a company
- Mortgages are a third of the market. AED 4 billion of the AED 12 billion week was bank financing, registered in 939 transactions. Banks in the UAE lend to residents and non-residents at different loan-to-value ratios, and every mortgage runs through a local account, so the bank relationship is set up before the sale and purchase agreement, not after. Our bank account opening service covers both personal and corporate accounts.
- Gift transfers are a separate legal track. The 154 gift transactions worth AED 736 million are transfers between first-degree relatives, or between an individual and a company they own, registered at a reduced DLD fee instead of the standard 4% transfer fee. Restructuring family property into a holding company uses this route.
- Ready property still qualifies for residency. Of the 1,579 ready deals, every purchase of AED 750,000 or more qualifies the owner for a 2-year property investor visa and every purchase of AED 2 million or more for the 10-year Golden Visa. Off-plan purchases qualify subject to the developer’s confirmation of the amount paid. Details on the UAE Golden Visa page.
- Whole buildings and land plots are corporate purchases in practice. The week’s 165 building sales and 238 land sales are typically registered to companies rather than individuals, because a licensed entity is what banks, developers and DLD expect on the title of an income-producing asset.
Checklist: registering a Dubai property through a company
- Choose the vehicle. DLD accepts mainland LLCs and companies from the free zones with which it has an ownership agreement, including DMCC, DIFC, JAFZA offshore and Meydan; not every free zone qualifies, so confirm before incorporating.
- Register the company and collect the licence, the establishment card and the shareholder’s residence visa. The sequence is described on our company setup page.
- Open the corporate bank account before the deposit is due, so that the 10% deposit and the balance are traceable to the buyer of record.
- Obtain the DLD no-objection letter for corporate ownership and, for off-plan, check that the project is registered on Oqood and that payments go to the escrow account.
- Budget for the 4% DLD transfer fee, the AED 580 title deed fee, the trustee office fee and the developer’s administration fee; for a mortgage, add the 0.25% mortgage registration fee.
- Decide how residency will work. A property held by a company does not automatically give the shareholder a property visa, so the visa usually runs through the company’s investor or employment quota.
How Atlant Capital can help
Atlant Capital registers companies in Dubai and the other emirates, opens corporate and personal bank accounts, and files investor and Golden Visa applications for clients who buy property in the UAE. If you are planning a purchase in one of the areas in this week’s ranking, we can confirm the ownership rules and the fee schedule for the specific project, structure the holding entity and open the account that the transaction will run through.
Conclusion
The week reported on 2026-08-28 brought AED 12 billion in Dubai real estate transactions from 3,657 registrations: AED 7.2 billion in sales, AED 4 billion in mortgages and AED 736 million in gifts. Off-plan produced AED 4.6 billion from 985 deals and ready property AED 2.6 billion from 1,579 deals. The Burj Khalifa area led with AED 845 million, including a building mortgage of AED 725 million and a sale of AED 471 million. Set against the AED 419.94 billion first half, the week sits close to the second-quarter pace of about AED 12.9 billion per week. For a buyer or company the operative numbers remain the AED 750,000 and AED 2 million visa thresholds, the 4% transfer fee and the bank account that every transaction runs through.
FAQ
How much real estate was transacted in Dubai in the week reported on 2026-08-28?
The Dubai Land Department recorded 3,657 transactions worth AED 12 billion: 2,564 sales worth AED 7.2 billion, 939 mortgages worth AED 4 billion and 154 gift transfers worth AED 736 million. Off-plan sales reached AED 4.6 billion from 985 deals and ready property sales AED 2.6 billion from 1,579 deals.
Which Dubai areas led sales in the week?
By sales value the Burj Khalifa area came first with AED 845 million, followed by Airport City with AED 491 million, Al Yafra 1 with AED 489 million, Dubailand Residential Complex with AED 286 million and Me’aisem First with AED 259 million. The Burj Khalifa area also recorded the week’s largest deals: a building mortgage of AED 725 million, a sale of AED 471 million and an off-plan apartment in Cedarwood Estate sold for AED 34 million.
How does a week of AED 12 billion compare with Dubai’s 2026 totals?
DLD recorded AED 419.94 billion across 112,850 transactions in the first half of 2026, an average of about AED 16.2 billion per week. The first quarter alone brought AED 252 billion, so the second quarter averaged roughly AED 12.9 billion per week. A week of AED 12 billion and 3,657 transactions is therefore close to the second-quarter pace.
Does buying property in Dubai give a residence visa?
Yes. A purchase of AED 750,000 or more qualifies the owner for a 2-year property investor visa, and a purchase of AED 2 million or more for the 10-year Golden Visa. The property must be in a freehold area, and for off-plan property the developer confirms the amount paid. A property registered to a company does not automatically give the shareholder a property visa, so residency usually runs through the company’s investor or employment quota.
