Dubai's residential market recorded 30,849 unit sales in Q2 2026 (April to June), and 24,334 of them, 78.9% of the total, were off-plan. Only 6,515 sales, 21.1% of the same total, were existing (ready) properties, roughly 3.7 off-plan sales for every one ready-resale sale. This is the headline finding of Propick's Q2 2026 digest, built directly from Dubai Land Department (DLD) transaction data, and it confirms what recent quarters have pointed toward: Dubai's residential market is currently a primary, off-plan-driven market, not a resale-driven one.
This piece is the first in a recurring quarterly series. Each edition reports the same four numbers, total residential sales, off-plan versus ready split, the ready-resale median price per square metre, and the top DLD areas by transaction count, so readers can track the market's direction quarter over quarter rather than relying on a single snapshot.
Q2 2026 at a Glance
| Metric | Value | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Total residential unit sales | 30,849 | Q2 2026 (Apr-Jun) |
| Off-plan sales | 24,334 | of 30,849 total |
| Off-plan share | 78.9% | 24,334 / 30,849 |
| Existing (ready) sales | 6,515 | of 30,849 total |
| Ready share | 21.1% | 6,515 / 30,849 |
| Ready-resale median price | AED 15,125 / sqm | median of meter_sale_price, existing-property sales |
Source: Dubai Land Department, Open Data - Real Estate Data, accessed via the data.dubai gateway.
Off-Plan Share: What 78.9% Means for Buyers
Nearly four in five residential units sold in Dubai this quarter were off-plan, sold directly by developers rather than transacted as completed, previously-owned property. For buyers, this carries two practical implications.
First, choice is concentrated in the primary market. A buyer shopping in Q2 2026 was statistically far more likely to be looking at a developer launch on a payment plan than at a finished, tenanted unit with an established resale price history. That shapes due diligence: off-plan buyers need to underwrite construction and handover risk, developer track record and escrow protections, rather than relying on comparable resale transactions in the same building.
Second, resale-based valuation benchmarks, like the AED 15,125/sqm ready median below, describe a smaller slice of the market than headline volume suggests. Only 6,515 of the quarter's 30,849 sales, 21.1% of the total, sit on that ready-resale basis. Buyers comparing an off-plan launch price to a "market average" per-square-metre figure should confirm which basis, off-plan or ready, that average uses (see Methodology below). None of this makes off-plan buying inherently riskier than resale; it means this quarter's pricing signal comes mostly from the primary market.
Ready-Resale Median: AED 15,125 per Square Metre
Among the 6,515 existing-property sales recorded in Q2 2026, the median price came to AED 15,125 per square metre.
Two caveats matter. This is a median, not an average, so it is not skewed by a handful of unusually expensive or cheap transactions. And 2026 remains year-to-date: this Q2 figure covers three confirmed months, not a full annual sample, and should be read as a quarterly data point within an ongoing year rather than a finalised annual result.
Top Areas by Transaction Count
The six DLD areas below recorded the highest raw transaction counts in Q2 2026, together accounting for 13,311 of the quarter's 30,849 total sales, 43.1% of all residential transactions, concentrated in a handful of off-plan launch zones.
| DLD area | Transactions | Share of Q2 total | Marketing community |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madinat Al Mataar | 5,085 | 16.5% | Dubai South / Expo City area (off-plan heavy) |
| Al Barsha South Fourth | 1,975 | 6.4% | JVC (Jumeirah Village Circle) |
| Jabal Ali First | 1,763 | 5.7% | Jebel Ali / Dubai Investments Park side |
| Wadi Al Safa 5 | 1,697 | 5.5% | Dubailand (Villanova / Wadi Al Safa) |
| Wadi Al Safa 3 | 1,513 | 4.9% | Dubailand |
| Palm Deira | 1,278 | 4.1% | Deira Islands / Palm Deira (new waterfront) |
Share of Q2 total computed as area transactions divided by 30,849. Source: DLD Open Data.
A note on names: these are DLD's official registered area names, which do not always match the marketing community names in listings. Madinat Al Mataar, DLD's raw name near Dubai South and Expo City, alone accounts for 5,085 sales, 16.5% of the quarter's volume, by far the busiest area in the dataset. The dataset does not break this figure down by off-plan versus ready within the area, though the community is generally described as off-plan heavy. Al Barsha South Fourth is the DLD name for JVC; Wadi Al Safa 5 and 3 sit within the wider Dubailand masterplan, near Villanova; Jabal Ali First covers the Jebel Ali/DIP side of the city; and Palm Deira corresponds to the Deira Islands waterfront. All six are areas where off-plan launches have clustered, which is why they lead the table in a quarter where 78.9% of sales were off-plan.
Why This Matters as a Quarterly Series
A single quarter's numbers are a data point, not a trend. Publishing the same four figures (total volume, off-plan share, ready median, top areas) every quarter lets buyers, agents and developers see whether off-plan share is climbing or easing, whether the ready median is moving, and whether the same DLD areas keep topping the table or new launch zones take their place. Propick will publish the next edition once Q3 2026 data is available from the same DLD source.
FAQ
What percentage of Dubai property sales were off-plan in Q2 2026? 78.9%. Of 30,849 total residential unit sales recorded in Q2 2026, 24,334 were off-plan, against 6,515 existing (ready) sales.
What was the median resale price per square metre in Q2 2026? AED 15,125 per square metre, based on the median of existing-property (ready) transactions in the quarter.
Which DLD area had the most transactions in Q2 2026? Madinat Al Mataar, the DLD area covering the Dubai South and Expo City area, with 5,085 transactions, 16.5% of the quarter's total residential sales.
Is Madinat Al Mataar the same as Dubai South? Madinat Al Mataar is DLD's official registered area name for the district that includes Dubai South and the Expo City area. Listings generally use "Dubai South" or "Expo City," but DLD's own data is recorded under the Madinat Al Mataar name.
Why does the ready-resale median exclude off-plan prices? Off-plan launch prices are set by developers at the point of sale, structured around payment plans and phased pricing that do not reflect a completed, market-tested asset. Mixing them into one price-per-square-metre figure with ready-resale transactions would distort the median depending on which launches closed that quarter. Reporting the ready-resale median separately, from a base of 6,515 existing-property sales, keeps the figure comparable across quarters.
Is the 2026 data final? No. 2026 is a year-to-date period. Q2 2026 (April to June) is a confirmed quarterly slice of that year-to-date dataset, but the full-year 2026 figures are not yet final.
Methodology & Sources
All figures in this digest come from Dubai Land Department (DLD) transaction records, accessed via the DLD Open Data portal through the data.dubai gateway in July 2026. No numbers here are estimated, extrapolated or sourced from broker or agency publications.
- Total residential unit sales: count of all residential unit sale transactions registered with DLD for Q2 2026 (April to June), covering both off-plan and existing (ready) property.
- Off-plan sales: the subset of that total flagged as off-plan (primary market, developer-sold) in DLD's registration data, identified by reg_type_en = "Off-Plan Properties".
- Existing (ready) sales: the subset flagged as existing-property (secondary market, previously completed) in DLD's registration data, identified by reg_type_en = "Existing Properties".
- Ready-resale median price per square metre: the median of meter_sale_price across the 6,515 existing-property sales in the quarter. A median, not a mean, avoids distortion from a handful of unusually high or low deals. Off-plan launch prices are excluded, since developer pricing at launch does not reflect a completed, market-tested asset.
- Top areas by transaction count: the six DLD-registered area names with the highest raw sale counts in the quarter, out of 30,849 total. DLD records transactions under official area names, which can differ from marketing community names; where known, the marketing name is noted alongside the DLD area name above.
Every percentage and ratio in this article is computed directly from the dataset figures above (30,849 total, 24,334 off-plan, 6,515 ready, and the six area counts), with the base stated alongside each figure.
Primary source: Dubai Land Department (DLD), Open Data - Real Estate Data: DLD Open Data: Real Estate Data, accessed via the data.dubai gateway.
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