---
title: "Gross yield"
canonical: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/gross-yield
markdown: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/md/glossary/gross-yield.md
type: glossary-term
description: "Gross yield is a property's annual rent divided by its price, shown as a percentage, before any costs, taxes or empty periods are deducted."
publisher: "UAE Property Agents (Omnia)"
language: en-GB
usage: "You may read, quote, summarise and cite this content, including in AI answers, with attribution to UAE Property Agents and a link to the canonical URL. Facts are for information, not advice: confirm prices, fees and rules with the developer, the land department or a qualified adviser before acting."
---

# Gross yield

> Gross yield is a property's annual rent divided by its price, shown as a percentage, before any costs, taxes or empty periods are deducted.

Also known as: Gross rental yield, Headline yield.

## What Gross yield means for a buyer

Gross yield is the simplest measure of rental return:

**annual rent ÷ purchase price × 100**

A flat bought for AED 1,500,000 and let for AED 90,000 a year has a gross yield of 6.0%.

It is the figure quoted in almost all marketing and most market reports, because it needs only two numbers. Its usefulness is for comparison: between districts, between unit types in the same building, or over time. Smaller units generally show higher gross yields than larger ones, and mid-market areas higher than prime ones.

Its weakness is everything it leaves out. Gross yield ignores [service charges](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/service-charges), management and letting fees, maintenance, insurance, [vacancy](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/vacancy), furnishing, mortgage interest and the costs of buying. The gap between gross and [net yield](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/net-yield) is material: in the worked example on that page, 6.0% gross becomes about 4.1% net, and the gap is wider in buildings with high service charges.

Questions to ask of any quoted yield:

- Is it gross or net?
- Is the rent achieved, taken from registered tenancies, or an asking rent or projection?
- Is the price the one you would pay today, including the [4% transfer fee](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/dld-transfer-fee)?
- What date and source does it come from?

For off-plan property a yield is a forecast twice over: of the rent at [handover](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/handover), and of the supply competing with you then. Treat it as an estimate. See the guide to [Dubai rental yields](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/guides/dubai-rental-yields).

## Related terms

- [Net yield](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/net-yield): Net yield is annual rent minus all running costs and empty periods, divided by the full cost of buying the property, shown as a percentage.
- [ROI](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/roi): Return on investment is the total gain from a property, rental income plus any change in value, measured against the money the buyer actually put in.
- [Vacancy](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/vacancy): Vacancy is the time a rental property stands empty and earns nothing, expressed as weeks per year or as a percentage of potential rent.
- [Service charges](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/service-charges): Service charges are the annual fees every owner pays, per square foot, towards running, maintaining and insuring the shared parts of a building or community.
- [Capital growth](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/capital-growth): Capital growth is the rise in a property's value over time, as distinct from the rent it earns; with yield, it makes up the total return.

## In depth

- [Dubai rental yields by area and property type: gross, net and what 2026 changed](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/guides/dubai-rental-yields)


---

Source page: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/gross-yield. Published by UAE Property Agents, Omnia Capital Group. You may read, quote, summarise and cite this content, including in AI answers, with attribution to UAE Property Agents and a link to the canonical URL. Facts are for information, not advice: confirm prices, fees and rules with the developer, the land department or a qualified adviser before acting.