Dubai rental yields by area and property type: gross, net and what 2026 changed

Gross rental yields in Dubai average a little under 6% across all homes: Property Finder's analysis of Dubai Land Department (DLD) records shows 5.68% for the 12 months to 11 November 2026. Apartments in mid-priced districts such as Jumeirah Village Circle and Dubai Silicon Oasis sit at 7% to 8.5%, prime apartments at about 4.5% to 6%, and most villa communities between 3% and 6%. Net yield, after service charges, vacancy, management and buying costs, is materially lower: in the worked example below a 7.2% gross yield becomes 4.8% net. New-lease rents have been falling since spring 2026, so treat every figure here as a dated snapshot, not a promise.

How to calculate gross and net rental yield

Gross yield = annual rent ÷ purchase price × 100.

Net yield = (rent actually collected − annual running costs) ÷ (purchase price + buying costs) × 100.

Gross yield is the figure portals and agents quote. It ignores every cost of owning the property. Net yield is the one to compare with a savings rate, a UK buy-to-let or a bond. Neither includes tax in your home country or any change in the property's value.

Worked example: a one-bedroom apartment in Jumeirah Village Circle

Betterhomes' medians for Jumeirah Village Circle in September 2026 were AED 1,259 per sq ft to buy and AED 91 per sq ft a year to rent. For a 750 sq ft one-bedroom apartment bought on the resale market that gives:

The assumptions are ours and are there to show the mechanics. Change any of them in the rental yield calculator. A building with a service charge of AED 25 per sq ft instead of AED 15 would cut the net yield in this example to about 4.1%.

Dubai rental yields by area

The table sets three sources side by side. They measure different things, which is why they do not agree.

Other figures from the same reports: Bayut's Q3 2026 report put Dubai Investments Park at 9.5% and Discovery Gardens at 8.5% for apartments, the highest in its affordable segment, and DAMAC Lagoons and DAMAC Hills 2 at 5.7% for villas. Betterhomes' September 2026 medians imply 4.8% for Tilal Al Ghaf villas, 4.1% for The Springs and 3.0% for Jumeirah Islands.

Why the sources disagree

• Property Finder uses registered sale prices and registered tenancy contracts from the DLD. It reflects what was paid, but the homes sold and the homes let are different sets, and in areas with heavy off-plan sales the prices include new stock that is not yet rentable.
• Bayut uses advertised prices and advertised rents on its own portal. Asking figures run ahead of or behind signed deals depending on the market.
• Betterhomes divides one agency's median rent per sq ft by its median sale price per sq ft.

Palm Jumeirah shows the problem. Property Finder's all-homes figure is 6.08%; Bayut's is 4.4% for apartments and 3.5% for villas. Use area tables to rank districts, then test a specific unit against signed rents in the same building.

Rental yield by property type and size

Smaller homes yield more. Property Finder figures compiled by Dubai Fast Living (published 13 October 2026) show:

The same compilation, covering the three months to 11 October 2026, gives 6.2% for apartments and 4.2% for villas and townhouses overall. Property Monitor data published by Engel & Völkers for August 2026 gives 6.7% for apartments, 5.1% for townhouses and 4.5% for villas. Knight Frank's Destination Dubai report (May 2025) gave ranges of 5% to 7% for apartments and 4.5% to 6% for villas and townhouses.

Villas show lower yields than apartments in every source above. Studios show the highest yields, and apartments face the most competing supply: about nine in ten homes scheduled for handover in 2027 are apartments, according to DLD planned-handover data cited by Betterhomes (October 2026).

What reduces net yield

• Service charges. The annual fee for running the building and its common areas, charged per square foot and approved by Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Agency. It is usually the largest running cost and varies widely between buildings. Check the approved figure for any project and year in the DLD's free Service Charge Index before you buy. Our service charges guide explains what is included.
• Vacancy. Betterhomes reports that a long let typically takes one to three weeks to agree, or four to six weeks where more marketing is needed, and that one empty month costs about 8.3% of the year's rent.
• Management. An overseas owner will usually pay an agent to find tenants, register the tenancy and handle repairs. Fees vary by service level; get them in writing.
• Furnishing and maintenance. Air-conditioning servicing, repainting between tenancies and appliance replacement fall to the landlord. Furnished lets need a furniture budget and periodic renewal.
• Buying costs. The 4% DLD transfer fee, plus trustee and agent fees on a resale, raise the amount you have invested. A yield calculated on price alone overstates the return. See Dubai property buying costs.
• Tax at home. The UAE has no personal income tax, but a UK resident pays UK income tax on the rent. See UK tax on Dubai property.
• Time before the first rent. An off-plan purchase earns nothing until handover.

Every area figure above, with its period and link, is also in our rental yields by area table, and the area guide to where to invest in Dubai groups the same figures by investor goal.

Short-term lets vs long lets in Dubai

Long lets are 12-month tenancies registered in the Ejari system. Rent is often paid in a small number of post-dated cheques: in Betterhomes' Q3 2026 lettings, 33% of deals were on four cheques and 28% on one. A landlord can raise the rent at renewal only by the band allowed under Decree No. 43 of 2013, which depends on how far the rent sits below the DLD's rental index, and only with 90 days' written notice.

Short-term (holiday) lets are regulated by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) under Decree No. 41 of 2013. According to Bayut's guide (updated 20 October 2026):

• The owner registers with DET (AED 1,500 plus AED 20 in government fees) and obtains a permit for each unit: AED 370 for a studio or one-bedroom, AED 670 for two bedrooms, AED 970 for three and AED 1,270 for four or more.
• An individual can hold permits for up to eight properties. More requires a trade licence and registration as a professional operator.
• The whole unit must be let, every guest registered, and a Tourism Dirham fee of AED 10 a night (standard) or AED 15 (deluxe) per room collected and paid over monthly.
• Units in hotel-apartment buildings cannot be operated as holiday homes.

The Decree allows fines of AED 200 to AED 20,000 for breaches. DET also recommends telling the building's management before you start.

A short let may gross more than a long let when occupancy is high, but the income moves with tourism. CBRE reported that Dubai hotel occupancy fell to about 23% in the week ending 14 March 2026, after the regional conflict began, and expected some short-term rental units to switch to long lets, adding to long-let supply. Operator fees, furnishing, utilities and cleaning also come out of short-let income. Compare the two on net income, not nightly rate.

The full permit process, the fee schedule and a worked comparison of a short let with a long let are in our holiday home rental guide; the landlord's side of a long let, from Ejari to notice periods, is in renting out property in Dubai.

Are Dubai rents rising or falling in 2026?

New-lease rents peaked in February 2026 on UBP's reading and have eased since. Renewals, which are index-linked and started lower, have continued to rise slowly.

Tenant demand has held up: Betterhomes recorded its highest ever leasing enquiries in Q3 2026. The pressure is on the supply side, with DLD data cited by Betterhomes showing 136,815 homes scheduled for handover in 2027. Scheduled handovers often slip, but a buyer modelling rent for a 2027 or 2028 completion should test a lower rent than today's, not a higher one. The wider picture is in Is Dubai property a good investment?.

How to use yield figures when choosing a property

1. Rank areas with the tables above, then drop to building level. Ask for the last three registered tenancy contracts in the building for the same unit type.
2. Look up the building's approved service charge and work out the net yield on the price plus buying costs.
3. Check how many similar homes are due to complete nearby in the next two years.
4. Treat any developer-advertised rental guarantee as marketing until you have read who pays it, for how long, and what the unit would let for without it.
5. Run the numbers at a rent 10% lower and with six weeks' vacancy. If the investment only works on today's asking rent, it does not work.