Dubai property purchase costs: 6.5 to 8.5 per cent, and no bank will finance them

All figures are documented on this page; the sources are listed at the end of the page.

Every fee, with its source

Nexus Bridge experience What is missing from this list because it does not exist in Dubai: notary fees on the sale contract, stamp duty as a tax, annual property tax, income tax on rent. The transfer happens at a trustee office and takes, per the Dubai Land Department, 25 minutes.^[1] The step-by-step process is in buying property in Dubai without living there.

What changed in February 2025

Official rule Until January 2025 many banks added the 4 per cent DLD fee and the 2 per cent commission to the mortgage. Since 1 February 2025 that is no longer permitted, on instruction of the Central Bank.^[3][4] The bank now finances at most the agreed share of the price, typically 65 per cent for non-residents and in some cases 50 per cent; the costs come entirely from your own funds.

Worked example On an AED 1,000,000 apartment the cash requirement rose from about AED 350,000 plus minor fees to about AED 430,000. That is why every page on this site says 35 per cent deposit plus 7 to 8 per cent costs, and why the down payment guide shows both numbers separately.

Priced at AED 800,000, 1.3 million and 1.9 million

Worked example The three prices come from our published case studies; fees follow the table above, bank fee at 1 per cent, valuation at AED 2,600 as in our published cost model, NOC at AED 2,000. In case study 01 the bank asked for 50 rather than 35 per cent equity, so that one is priced at 50 per cent loan-to-value.

AED 800,000, studio in Al Furjan (case study 02), 65 % LTV

AED 1,300,000, Dubai Marina (case study 01), 50 % LTV

AED 1,900,000 (case study 03), 65 % LTV

Nexus Bridge experience The percentage falls as the price rises because the trustee, valuation, NOC and DEWA are fixed amounts: 8.4 per cent at AED 800,000, 7.6 per cent at AED 1.9 million. The real lever is not the fees but the loan-to-value: 50 instead of 65 per cent on AED 1.3 million means AED 195,000 more equity, twice all the fees combined. Case study 01 shows that this is the number purchases fail on.

Cash versus mortgage

Worked example A cash buyer saves three items: mortgage registration, valuation and the bank fee. At AED 1.9 million that is about AED 19,055, and costs fall from 7.6 to 6.6 per cent. It is not nothing, but it is not an argument against borrowing: in case study 03 the first-year return on equity is 6.97 per cent with the mortgage against 6.30 per cent in cash, despite the higher costs, because the rent covers the interest and less capital is tied up. What one percentage point of rate costs over the term is in Dubai mortgage rates explained.

Off-plan from the developer: what is different

Official rule The 4 per cent applies to developer sales too, usually as the Oqood registration of the pre-sale contract at signing.^[1] Agency commission falls away because the developer pays distribution, and there is no NOC. The trustee fee is due only at the transfer of the completed unit. Some developers absorb the DLD fee as an incentive; that is a discount reflected in the price and should be negotiated as one.

Bank practice For non-residents, off-plan is usually financed only at handover, on a valuation of the finished unit. Mortgage registration, valuation and the bank fee arrive then, and the valuation can sit below the price agreed three years earlier. How to plan backwards from the handover date is in off-plan handover finance.

What an apartment in Dubai costs

Official rule The median for completed apartments in July 2026 was AED 1,379 per square foot; off-plan AED 1,722, a 24.9 per cent premium for something that does not yet exist.^[8] That is about AED 14,840 per square metre or roughly USD 4,040. A 1,000 square foot apartment costs about AED 1.38 million at the median, roughly USD 375,000; with costs and a 35 per cent deposit, a borrowing buyer needs around AED 590,000 in cash for it.

Nexus Bridge experience The range is wide: our case studies run from AED 800,000 for a furnished studio at the metro to AED 1.9 million for 787 square feet with a view. What decides the arithmetic is less the price per square foot than the ratio of rent to service charge; how to check it is in property management in Dubai.

London, Berlin, New York

Nexus Bridge experience The comparison is indicative; each city has exemptions and bands that a specialist should confirm. The structural point holds: Dubai's one-off costs sit at the low end, there is no recurring property tax, and the transfer is the fastest of the four. Whether the purchase makes sense is decided by rent, service charge and financing, which is what case study 03 works through.

Four planning errors

1. Planning only the deposit. 35 per cent is 42 to 44 per cent, without exception since February 2025.^[3]
2. Forgetting VAT. Agent, trustee, valuer and bank charge 5 per cent VAT;^[6] on AED 1.9 million that is AED 1,900 on the commission alone.
3. No valuation buffer. The bank lends against the lower of price and valuation.^[5] A valuation AED 100,000 below the price means AED 65,000 more equity. Ten per cent of the equity held in reserve solves it.
4. Ignoring the service charge. Not a purchase cost, but the item that decides net yield: AED 10 against AED 17 per square foot is AED 4,900 a year on 700 square feet.

Frequently asked questions

Sources