Rent or buy: the break-even year, by area
When buying beats renting, with each area's published price and yield.
Buying beats renting from
Year 4
The first year in which the total cost of owning falls to or below the total rent paid.
| Cost of owning | Over 5 years | Over 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| Buying costs | AED 81,457 | AED 81,457 |
| Mortgage interest | AED 205,767 | AED 381,871 |
| Service charges | AED 72,000 | AED 144,000 |
| Return forgone on cash | AED 0 | AED 0 |
| Selling costs | AED 25,469 | AED 25,469 |
| Change in value | AED 0 | AED 0 |
| Cost of owning | AED 384,693 | AED 632,796 |
| Rent paid | AED 455,405 | AED 910,810 |
- Over 5 years: Owning is cheaper by AED 70,712
- Over 10 years: Owning is cheaper by AED 278,014
- Owning
- Renting
Year
Buying costs on this price
- DLD transfer fee (4%)
- AED 48,512
- DLD admin and title deed fees
- AED 580
- Registration trustee fee (incl. 5% VAT)
- AED 4,200
- Mortgage registration (0.25% of loan)
- AED 2,696
- Agent commission (2% + VAT, typical)
- AED 25,469
- Cash needed up front
- AED 324,017
- Monthly repayment
- AED 5,393
Fee rules reviewed 12 November 2026.
Started from Jumeirah Village Circle's published figures. Change any of them. Jumeirah Village Circle in the Atlas
The home
Your assumption. Enter the size of the home you would rent or buy.
Source: Property Finder. 12 months to 12 November 2026. Read 12 November 2026.
Turns the price into a matching annual rent.
Source: Property Finder. 12 months to 12 November 2026. Read 12 November 2026.
- Price
- AED 1,212,800
- First year's rent
- AED 91,081
The mortgage
Banks lend expatriate residents up to 80% on a first home up to AED 5 million.
Enter the rate you have been quoted.
Your assumptions
Per sq ft a year. Charges vary by building.
Published example: Aria Residence, AED 14.36 (Bayut).
Starts at 0%. Never filled in from a forecast.
For reference, the published change in the area's average price per sq ft over 1 year: +5.3% (Property Finder, Transactions (Dubai Land Department records), 12 months to 12 November 2026). Past change is not a forecast.
Your assumption for the rent increase each year.
For reference, the published change in average new-contract rent over 1 year: -3.9% (Property Finder, Rental transactions (Dubai Land Department records)).
What your deposit and costs could earn elsewhere, a year. Starts at 0%.
Share of the value when you sell. Starts at the 2% plus VAT agent fee convention.
Figures read from the sources on 12 November 2026. Each figure links to the page it came from.
Pick an area and see when buying beats renting, using its published price per sq ft and yield, real UAE buying costs and your own mortgage and growth assumptions.
How it works
Pick an area and the calculator starts from its published average price per square foot and gross rental yield. The price is that figure times the size you enter; the first year's rent is the price times the yield, so both describe the same home. Change any figure to match the home you are looking at.
Owning costs are counted as money you do not get back: the buying costs (land department fees, registration, trustee, mortgage registration and agent fee, from our fee rules), mortgage interest, service charges, the return your cash could have earned elsewhere, and the cost of selling at the end. The repaid part of the loan is not a cost, because it becomes equity. Any change in the property's value is added or taken off.
Renting costs are the rent, rising each year by the increase you set.
The break-even year is the first year in which the total cost of owning falls to or below the total rent paid. If it never does within 30 years, the calculator says so.
The growth assumption starts at 0% and is never filled in from a forecast. Set it yourself; published past changes for the area are shown as a reference only.
Where the figures come from
- Price per square foot and gross yield: for Dubai areas, Property Finder's 12-month averages of registered sales and Property Finder's own yield calculation; for Abu Dhabi areas, Bayut's index. The source of each figure is shown beside the field.
- Buying costs: the fee rules used by our buying cost calculator, reviewed on the date shown: the Dubai Land Department's 4% transfer fee, title deed and administration fees, the registration trustee fee, mortgage registration, and the 2% plus VAT agent fee convention on resale. Abu Dhabi uses its 2% registration fee.
- Mortgage: a standard repayment mortgage at the rate and term you enter.
What to keep in mind
- Averages, not your home. The area's price per square foot and yield are averages across everything registered. A specific unit can be well above or below them.
- Gross yield is the landlord's figure. As a tenant you pay the rent; the yield is only used to turn the price into a matching rent.
- No tax. The calculator ignores tax in your home country, which can apply to gains on a UAE property.
- Interest rates move. Most UAE mortgages are fixed for one to five years and then follow EIBOR. Try a higher rate to see how sensitive the answer is.
- Not advice. It is a planning tool built on published figures and your own assumptions.
Questions buyers ask
Is it better to rent or buy in Dubai?
It depends on how long you stay, the area's price and rent, your mortgage rate and what happens to prices. Buying carries heavy up-front costs, more than 6% of the price on a resale purchase with a mortgage and an agent in Dubai, so short stays usually favour renting. The calculator shows the year in which buying catches up.
How long do you need to stay in Dubai for buying to make sense?
With flat prices and rents, the break-even point is often several years away, because the buying costs and interest have to be recovered first. Rising rents bring it closer and falling prices push it out. Enter your own assumptions to see the year for a specific area.
Does the calculator assume prices will rise?
No. Price growth starts at 0% and is never filled in from a forecast. You can set it yourself, and the area's published past change is shown beside the field for reference.
What buying costs are included?
In Dubai: the 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee, title deed and administration fees, the registration trustee fee, mortgage registration at 0.25% of the loan, and optionally the 2% plus VAT buyer's agent fee. In Abu Dhabi, the 2% registration fee and mortgage registration.
Want these numbers for a real development?
Send us the development or budget and we'll run the figures on live prices.
- Current price list and availability, direct from the developer
- No fee to you on off-plan purchases: the developer pays us
- One salaried adviser, not on commission, from first call to handover
