2026-09-05
Dubai’s short-term rental market had 18,902 active listings in the 12 months to August 2026, an average occupancy of 69%, an average booked rate of USD 178 (AED 654) a night and an average annual revenue of USD 37,200 (AED 136,600) per listing, according to data from AirDNA, the US short-term rental analytics company, reported by Emirates 24|7 on Friday 4 September 2026. Revenue per listing rose 171.9% year on year, occupancy rose 24.2% and revenue per available unit (RevPAR) rose 14.7% to USD 123 (AED 451) a night. Emirates 24|7 multiplied the average revenue by the number of listings and put the segment’s total annual revenue at about AED 2.582 billion. AirDNA’s own market page, checked on 5 September 2026, adds two figures the newspaper did not print: the average daily rate is down 10.6% year on year, and the number of active listings is down 65.6% from August 2025. The 172% growth is therefore the growth of revenue per surviving listing on a base that shrank by nearly two thirds, not a tripling of the market. This article sets out what AirDNA measured, how it compares with Dubai’s hotel data for 2026, and what the Dubai rules require from anyone who wants to let a unit by the night.
What AirDNA measured: the figures and their definitions
AirDNA tracks listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, counts a home once even if it is listed on several platforms, and refreshes the count monthly. All figures below are for the trailing 12 months to August 2026 unless stated otherwise. The value column follows the Emirates 24|7 report; the change column combines the newspaper’s figures with AirDNA’s market page as of 5 September 2026, which showed 18,897 active listings, five fewer than the number in the report.
| Metric | Value, 12 months to August 2026 | Change, August 2025 to August 2026 | AirDNA definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active listings | 18,902 (18,897 on 5 September) | Down 65.6% | Rentals on Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com that were available or booked in the trailing 12 months, de-duplicated across channels |
| Annual revenue per listing | USD 37,200 (AED 136,600) | Up 171.9% | Trailing 12-month earnings of a typical active listing before host expenses, including nightly rates, cleaning and other guest fees |
| Occupancy | 69% | Up 24.2% | Share of available nights that were booked, averaged across active listings |
| Average daily rate (ADR) | USD 178 (AED 654) | Down 10.6% | Average nightly price actually paid across booked nights |
| RevPAR | USD 123 (AED 451) | Up 14.7% | Occupancy multiplied by ADR, revenue per available night |
| Market Score | 85 out of 100 | n/a | Rental demand 71, seasonality 64, revenue growth 83, regulation 68, on a 40 to 100 scale benchmarked against other UAE markets |
Two definitions matter for reading the headline. First, “annual revenue” is what a typical listing earned, not what the market earned: the AED 2.582 billion total in the Emirates 24|7 report is an arithmetic product of that average and the number of listings, and AirDNA itself does not publish a market total. Second, the “revenue growth” component of the Market Score, 83 points, is calculated on properties booked in both periods only, which is a cleaner like-for-like measure than the 172% figure.
Why revenue per listing rose while the number of listings fell
The two moves are connected. AirDNA’s active listing count for Dubai fell 65.6% between August 2025 and August 2026, so the average in August 2026 is taken over a much smaller and more professional pool. The units that stayed on the market were booked 69% of available nights, 24.2% more than a year earlier by AirDNA’s measure, while the average rate was 10.6% lower. Revenue per available unit, the measure that combines both, rose 14.7%, which is the more conservative reading of the same year.
Skift reported on 2 September 2026, citing Bram Gallagher, AirDNA’s director of economics and forecasting, that available UAE listings fell nearly 5% in July 2026 alone as hosts withdrew after months of weak returns, that third-quarter demand measured in booked nights was pacing about 13% behind 2025 while occupancy was up roughly 4%, and that where early fourth-quarter bookings existed the average daily rate was running 17% ahead of last year. Gallagher described this as “hosts holding rate on a smaller, earlier-booking pool” rather than a demand recovery. The same report noted that villa rates rebounded 12.2% in July while apartment rates stayed 7% down, that Abu Dhabi outperformed Dubai during the regional conflict, and that average stays lengthened: 6.5 days at Homevy, which manages 44 properties in Dubai, and 8 days at Frank Porter, with AirDNA confirming a rise in rentals of 28 days or more. Homevy reported 88% occupancy and expected fourth-quarter rates near AED 1,000 a night; Frank Porter cited rates 15% above 2025 levels since June. Homevy’s founder Kyle Johnson said he expected an oversupply of short-term rentals by 2027-2028.
Hotels in the same period: the comparison
The short-term rental figures should be read next to the hotel data for 2026, which describe the same demand. In its sovereign rating release of 4 September 2026, S&P Global Ratings put Dubai hotel occupancy in the first half of 2026 at 58% against 80% a year earlier and Dubai International Airport traffic at 31.5 million passengers, down 31%; the details are in our article on the S&P affirmation of the UAE at AA/A-1+. Cavendish Maxwell, in a report covered by Khaleej Times on 18 August 2026, recorded a 30.3% fall in Dubai hotel occupancy in the first half, a citywide average daily rate of AED 701, down 7%, an inventory of 727 hotels and about 152,139 rooms, and government support packages of AED 2.5 billion combining fee relief with demand stimulation; it forecast full-year 2026 occupancy of 60.4% to 66.2% and rates of AED 600 to 675. STR Global, quoted in the Emirates 24|7 report, raised its forecast for the recovery of Dubai occupancy in 2027 and expects the 2027 average rate to sit within AED 19.8 of the 2025 level, with local and regional demand and luxury hotels named as the main supports.
Against this backdrop the 69% occupancy of short-term rentals is above the first-half hotel figure, and the per-night rate of AED 654 is below the hotel average of AED 701. Both are consistent with the Skift account of a smaller pool of listings absorbing the demand that remained, part of it in longer stays by residents and regional visitors rather than by long-haul tourists.
Rules for letting a home by the night in Dubai
Short-term letting of residential units in Dubai is a licensed activity under Decree No. 41 of 2013 Regulating the Activity of Leasing out Holiday Homes in the Emirate of Dubai, which applies across the emirate including free zones and the DIFC, and its implementing bylaw, Administrative Resolution No. 1 of 2020. The regulator named in the decree is the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, now part of the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). The main requirements are:
- Licence for operators. No natural or legal person may conduct the activity without a DET licence. An operating company needs an initial approval and a licence; the licence runs for one year, renewable, and can be issued for up to four years if the fees for the whole term are paid in advance. The application requires the passports and Emirates IDs of the owners, partners and managing director, a valid commercial licence and certificates of good conduct.
- Permit for each unit. Every holiday home needs its own permit, valid for one year and renewed before expiry. The unit must be in an area where the activity is authorised and meet the technical specifications of its classification category; the applicant, whether owner or tenant, must submit a passport or Emirates ID and proof of the right to dispose of the unit, and the sale and purchase agreement must not preclude use as a holiday home.
- Insurance and contracts. The licensee must hold a comprehensive insurance policy from an insurer licensed in Dubai for the whole licence term, sign a holiday home lease contract with each guest, provide guest information to DET regularly and respect the maximum occupancy stated in the permit.
- Whole units only. Letting a holiday home in parts, as separate rooms or bed spaces, is a violation, as is charging guests extra for electricity and water.
- Tourism Dirham. Under Executive Council Resolution No. 2 of 2014, guests pay a Tourism Dirham fee per occupied room per night: AED 10 in a standard holiday home and AED 15 in a luxury holiday home. The operator collects it, shows it on the invoice, files a monthly occupancy statement and remits the proceeds before the 16th day of the following month, keeping records for five years.
The fees and fines are set by Executive Council Resolution No. 49 of 2014. The resolution states that its fees do not prejudice the right of other government entities to charge fees prescribed by other legislation, so the total payable through DET’s electronic system can exceed the schedule below.
| Item, Resolution No. 49 of 2014 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Initial approval for a new licence or renewal | AED 100 |
| New licence or renewal (operator) | AED 500 |
| Permit to conduct the activity in a holiday home, per year | AED 300 per bedroom, up to AED 1,200 per unit |
| Inspection or re-inspection of a holiday home | AED 300 per unit |
| Holiday home classification certificate | AED 50 per unit |
| Subscription to the e-Programme | AED 1,500 |
| Fine: conducting the activity without a licence | AED 5,000 |
| Fine: leasing out a holiday home without prior DET approval | AED 2,000 |
| Fine: operating while suspended | AED 20,000 |
| Fine: no valid insurance policy | AED 2,000 |
| Fine: charging guests for electricity and water | AED 2,000 |
| Fine: letting rooms or bed spaces instead of the whole unit | AED 500 |
| Fine: obstructing DET inspectors | AED 10,000 |
A repeat violation within one year doubles the fine, up to AED 100,000, and DET may suspend the activity for up to six months or revoke the licence. Tourism Dirham violations carry their own schedule: failure to collect or remit the fee costs 10% of the amount due with a minimum of AED 1,000, and false or manipulated records cost AED 15,000.
What the numbers mean for an owner or an operator
Three practical points follow from the data and the rules.
- Budget from RevPAR, not from the 172%. At USD 123 (AED 451) per available night, a listing that stays on the market all year earns about AED 164,600 gross before platform commissions, cleaning, utilities, permit fees, Tourism Dirham and management; the gap between that figure and AirDNA’s average of AED 136,600 reflects listings that were not on the market for the full 12 months. The 172% growth rate describes 2025-2026, a year in which the base fell 65.6%, and cannot be extrapolated.
- Supply is the variable to watch. Dubai’s residential stock is approaching one million units, as we described in the article on the one-million-homes milestone, and weekly sales in late August ran at AED 12 billion (see the Dubai Land Department weekly figures). New handovers add to the pool from which short-term listings are drawn, which is the basis of the oversupply expectation for 2027-2028 quoted by Skift. Our earlier piece on the Dubai property market in the second half of 2026 covers the demand side.
- The activity is licensed, and the licence is corporate. An owner letting their own unit needs at least a DET permit per unit; a business managing units for others needs a commercial licence with the holiday homes activity, the DET operator licence, insurance and monthly Tourism Dirham filings. A property investor who buys to let short-term should also check whether the purchase qualifies for the property-investor route to a UAE Golden Visa, described in our Golden Visa guide.
Checklist before listing a unit in Dubai
- Confirm that the building and area allow holiday home use and that the sale and purchase agreement or lease does not exclude it.
- Decide who holds the permit: the owner or tenant personally, or a licensed operator that manages the unit under its own DET licence.
- Obtain the DET permit for the unit, its classification (standard or luxury) and the classification certificate before publishing the listing.
- Arrange the insurance policy from a Dubai-licensed insurer for the full licence term.
- Set up guest registration, a holiday home lease contract template and the monthly Tourism Dirham statement, with remittance before the 16th of each month.
- Model the income on RevPAR of AED 451 per available night and an average stay that is lengthening, not on the 172% headline.
- Check the VAT position of the operating entity with a licensed tax adviser once turnover approaches the registration threshold.
How Atlant Capital can help
Atlant Capital works with investors and operators who use the UAE as a base. We handle company formation on the mainland and in the free zones, including the choice of jurisdiction and the activity list for a holiday homes or property management business; corporate bank account opening, so that platform payouts, Tourism Dirham remittances and owner settlements run through a UAE account; and work visas and residence permits for owners and staff. Bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax filings are handled by licensed accounting firms from our partner network.
Conclusion
AirDNA’s figures for the 12 months to August 2026 describe a Dubai short-term rental market of 18,902 active listings that were booked 69% of available nights at USD 178 (AED 654) a night and earned USD 37,200 (AED 136,600) each on average, 172% more than a year earlier. The same dataset shows the number of active listings down 65.6% and the average rate down 10.6%, so the growth belongs to the units that stayed on the market, and the like-for-like gain in revenue per available night was 14.7%. Hotels in the first half of 2026 ran at 58% occupancy and AED 701 a night under the pressure of the regional conflict, and both hotel forecasters and AirDNA expect the recovery to run through 2027. For anyone entering the segment, the operating framework is fixed by Decree No. 41 of 2013: a DET permit per unit, an operator licence for businesses, insurance, whole-unit letting and a Tourism Dirham of AED 10 or AED 15 per room per night.
FAQ
How much does a short-term rental in Dubai earn in 2026?
According to AirDNA data for the 12 months to August 2026, a typical active listing in Dubai earned USD 37,200 (about AED 136,600) before host expenses, with 69% occupancy, an average booked rate of USD 178 (AED 654) a night and revenue per available night of USD 123 (AED 451). The figure includes nightly rates, cleaning and other guest fees and excludes platform commissions, utilities, permits and management costs.
Why did Dubai short-term rental revenue rise 172% in a year?
The 172% is the year-on-year change in AirDNA’s average annual revenue per active listing between August 2025 and August 2026. Over the same period AirDNA’s count of active listings in Dubai fell 65.6% and the average daily rate fell 10.6%, while occupancy rose 24.2%. The average is therefore taken over a much smaller pool of listings that were booked more often; revenue per available night, the like-for-like measure, rose 14.7%.
How many short-term rental units are there in Dubai?
AirDNA counted 18,902 active listings on Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com in the 12 months to August 2026, as reported by Emirates 24|7 on 4 September 2026; AirDNA’s market page showed 18,897 on 5 September 2026. A home listed on several platforms is counted once. The count is 65.6% lower than in August 2025 and refers to listings that were available or booked in the trailing 12 months, not to all units holding a DET holiday home permit.
What licence do you need to rent out a holiday home in Dubai?
Under Decree No. 41 of 2013 and its 2020 bylaw, each unit needs a DET holiday home permit valid for one year, and any person or company conducting the activity needs a DET licence, also valid for one year and extendable to four years. Executive Council Resolution No. 49 of 2014 sets the permit fee at AED 300 per bedroom up to AED 1,200 per unit per year and the fine for operating without a licence at AED 5,000. Guests pay a Tourism Dirham of AED 10 per room per night in a standard holiday home and AED 15 in a luxury one, remitted to DET before the 16th of the following month.
