![\"Farhan](\"https:\/\/imgengine.khaleejtimes.com\/khaleejtimes-english\/2026-01-08\/joqbon8v\/Farhan_Badami__Business_Development_Manager_at_eToro.jpg?width=1200&height=800&format=auto\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\nDubai enters 2026 after a record Dh680B year, with steady demand, selective price cooling, and blockchain-driven tokenisation set to redefine property investment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dubai enters 2026 on the back of a blockbuster year for property activity, with analysts and market leaders pointing to resilient end\u2011user demand, a larger international buyer base, and the first practical steps toward tokenised real\u2011estate trading. \u201cThe UAE\u2019s real estate market continues to benefit from powerful structural tailwinds,\u201d said Farhan Badami, Market Analyst at eToro. \u201cPopulation growth remains a key driver of housing demand, while new technologies such as tokenisation are beginning to reshape how properties are bought, sold and valued across major markets like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By late 2025, Dubai\u2019s total transaction value had already surpassed Dh500 billion across 186,000 sales, overtaking the full\u2011year figure for 2024 and setting records across luxury, apartments, townhouses and villas. Louis Harding, CEO of betterhomes, argues the cycle is maturing rather than correcting: \u201cDubai approaches 2026 from a foundation of real, underlying demand rather than speculative momentum.\u201d In parallel, eToro estimates that Dubai recorded property transactions exceeding Dh680 billion in 2025 \u2014 roughly 30 per cent year\u2011on\u2011year growth \u2014 while Abu Dhabi\u2019s residential demand rose around 5 per cent\u20136 per cent annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farhan Badami, Business Development Manager at eToro<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Momentum has broadened beyond the luxury tier. Harding notes that October and November held steady at around 18,000 sales each, reflecting a wider base of end\u2011users and a \u201cmore measured price environment\u201d as new supply gave buyers greater choice \u2014 particularly in the mid\u2011market. \u201cAs a result, the market moves through 2026 with steady growth, alongside pockets of stabilisation,\u201d he said. Average apartment prices were up roughly 15 per cent over the past year, with rental yields for villas and apartments typically ranging from 5 per cent to 9 per cent, depending on community and asset type. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supply will be closely watched. About 100,000 units are forecast to complete in 2026, raising the risk of oversupply in delivery\u2011heavy, mid\u2011market communities. Yet developers and brokers caution against reading headline numbers in isolation: 30 per cent\u201340 per cent of predicted supply is typically delayed or phased, and Dubai\u2019s aggressive population growth \u2014 surpassing four million residents in 2025, with more than 208,000 added that year \u2014 continues to absorb inventory. Harding adds that once second\u2011home demand, investment activity and renters transitioning to ownership are factored in, \u201csupply remains broadly aligned with real absorption,\u201d with any softening reflecting natural market maturation rather than systemic oversupply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Policy remains a tailwind. Since 2021, Dubai has issued more than 250,000 Golden Visas, catalysing a decisive shift toward long\u2011term residency. At betterhomes, cash buyers represented 49 per cent in Q3 versus 52 per cent in Q2, while end\u2011users accounted for roughly half of transactions earlier in the year \u2014 evidence, Harding says, of \u201ccommitted residents choosing Dubai as a primary base.\u201d International inflows will stay diverse in 2026, led by buyers from India, the UK, Pakistan, Europe, Russia and North America, alongside steady demand from the GCC and wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Louis](\"https:\/\/imgengine.khaleejtimes.com\/khaleejtimes-english\/2026-01-08\/ijjxggf6\/Lous_Harding_betterhomes.png?width=1200&height=800&format=auto\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Louis Harding, CEO of betterhomes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A notable theme for 2026 is the arrival of tokenisation and fractional ownership. Dubai Land Department has launched a pilot integrating blockchain\u2011based property titles into the land registry \u2014 an initiative Badami believes could \u201cfundamentally change how real estate is traded,\u201d enabling faster, more transparent transactions and improving market liquidity. He expects innovation to broaden the investor base and open new funding channels, reinforcing the appeal of well\u2011capitalised developers with strong land banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On pricing, Dubai remains relatively affordable compared with global hubs: an average of Dh1,676 per square foot keeps the market accessible while allowing further growth, supported by economic stability, low inflation, zero property tax, 100 per cent foreign ownership and sustained demographic gains. For investors, strategies will be mixed \u2014 off\u2011plan for capital appreciation, secondary for immediate income, and yield\u2011led assets in high\u2011demand rental areas \u2014 while community\u2011level performance is expected to remain resilient in Business Bay, JVC, Emirates Living and Palm Jumeirah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In equities, eToro sees room for \u201csteady earnings growth\u201d across developers and lenders, with healthier cash flows underpinning \u201csustainable dividend growth\u201d for income\u2011oriented investors. Taken together, Dubai\u2019s 2026 story is one of durable demand, measured price action, and a market architecture evolving toward digital, fractional ownership \u2014 an outlook shaped less by speculative churn and more by fundamentals and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Khaleej times<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Published: 8 January 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dubai enters 2026 after a record Dh680B year, with steady demand, selective price cooling, and blockchain-driven tokenisation set to redefine property investment Dubai enters 2026 on the back of a blockbuster year for property activity, with analysts and market leaders pointing to resilient end\u2011user demand, a larger international buyer base, and the first practical steps […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5738,5739,5737,5736,1040],"class_list":["post-37107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dubai-property-market-2026","tag-dubai-real-estate-outlook","tag-property-demand-in-dubai","tag-real-estate-technology-trends","tag-uae-real-estate-trends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37109,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37107\/revisions\/37109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elite-bricks.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}