ROI

Return on investment (ROI) is used loosely in UAE property marketing, often as a synonym for gross yield. Properly, it is wider: it combines income and capital change, after costs, relative to the cash you invested.

(net rental income + change in value − buying and selling costs) ÷ cash invested × 100

Three features distinguish it from yield. It depends on the holding period, so it should be stated per year or for a named period. It includes the price movement, which may be negative. And it is measured against your own cash, so borrowing magnifies it in both directions.

Off-plan purchases show why precision matters. A buyer who has paid 40% of the price and sells by assignment at a 10% premium appears to have made 25% on the cash paid in. After the non-recoverable 4% transfer fee, an agent's commission and the developer's fee, the true figure is far lower, and the same leverage turns a 10% fall in price into a loss of more than a quarter of the cash invested.

Be sceptical of any projected ROI. Nobody can know future prices, and 2026 was a reminder that Dubai values fall as well as rise. A developer's offer of a fixed rental return for a period is a commercial promise by that company, priced into the unit, and only as strong as the company. Ask for the assumptions behind any figure, and work out net yield on current rents yourself.