Dubai Apartment Costs: Buying, Owning and Renting Out

Official rates checked on 29 October 2026. Other amounts in the example are calculation assumptions.

The purchase price is only the start of the budget

The cost of a Dubai apartment covers the purchase, the ownership years and the eventual sale. When you compare offers, keep one-off expenses apart from yearly ones, and only then work out the rental result. Annual rent divided by the price of the unit does not tell you what is left in the owner's account.

Before you reserve, ask for a cost breakdown for the specific apartment: the amount, the currency, who receives it, when it is due and what it is calculated on. Check it against the documents, not just the project's marketing. The costs of one building are not a price list for a whole district.

Fees when buying an apartment

The DLD Property Sale Registration page lists a fee of 2% of the sale value on the seller's side and 2% on the buyer's side. Confirm how the cost is actually split in the transaction documents. Don't assume the buyer always pays all of it.

According to the same page, the fee for the partner that handles the registration is 4,000 AED plus VAT for a value of at least 500,000 AED, or 2,000 AED plus VAT below that threshold. Relevant document fees are added on top. A mortgage and other types of registration may need separate services.

• Commission: confirm who is obliged to pay it, what it is calculated on and the final amount.
• Documents and NOC: find out which documents are required and what they cost for your particular seller and building.
• Financing: ask the bank for the total cost of the loan, including valuation, registration and insurance.
• Furnishing: check what the price of the unit actually includes and what you will have to pay for on top.
• Currency exchange: compare the rate, the spread and the transfer costs. Your budget in your home currency depends on the exchange rate you assume.

With new investments in Dubai, check the instalment schedule and the payment terms at handover. A small reservation payment does not lower the price of the whole property.

Ownership and rental costs

Check service charges in the DLD Service Charge Index for the project, type of use and year. The index does not include arrears, so the seller's settlement has to be confirmed separately.

Add repairs, insurance, replacement of furnishings and any utility costs that the owner bears. If you use property management in Dubai, agree what the fee is calculated on and what the service covers: finding a tenant, accounting, maintenance and any cleaning.

Don't assume full occupancy all year. Build a scenario with a period without a tenant, a lower rent and a larger repair. For short-term rental, include the relevant permits and operator fees. That model does not have the same costs as a long-term lease.

Worked example of the full budget

This is a worked calculation, not an offer, a real transaction or a market forecast. Apart from the official rates quoted, the amounts are assumptions. We assume a cash purchase and, by agreement, that the buyer covers the whole DLD fee. For a specific apartment, use confirmed costs instead.

In this model we assume the tenant pays the running utilities. If the lease puts those costs on the owner, add them to the expenses and recalculate. We assume annual rent of 110,000 AED with full occupancy. In the more cautious variant we allow a loss of 11,000 AED from vacancy or lower rent, building charges of 18,000 AED, rental management of 8,800 AED, and repairs and insurance of 6,000 AED. That leaves 66,200 AED before financing and the investor's taxes.

• Rent of 110,000 AED / price alone of 1,800,000 AED = about 6.11%.
• Rent of 110,000 AED / full amount invested of 1,951,000 AED = about 5.64%.
• Operating result of 66,200 AED / full amount invested of 1,951,000 AED = about 3.39%.

These are three different measures. The last one includes the assumed local costs and the vacancy scenario, but it is still not a result after tax and not the total return on the investment. The sale result, the exchange rate and the exit costs can change the final outcome. Plan a cash reserve for unexpected expenses on top of this.

Taxes, financing and selling costs

Don't use “no tax in Dubai” as the answer for every investor. The FTA distinguishes a private investment by an individual from an activity that requires a licence. Your home country may also apply its own rules to you.

Poland-specific: a Polish tax resident also has to assess their obligations in Poland, taking into account the relevant Polish rules and the applicable tax treaty. Investors from other countries should check their own home-country tax and reporting obligations.

If you borrow, separate the cash flow after loan instalments from the operating result of the apartment. Before a later sale, check the commission, the documents, the settlement of any debt and any assignment conditions. A calculation without exit costs does not describe the whole investment.

How to compare two offers

For both apartments, use the same period, currency, definition of income and list of costs. Write down your assumptions and, next to them, the amounts confirmed in documents. If the building charges, the condition of the unit or the rental terms are not known, don't replace them with zero.

When choosing an apartment in Dubai, also compare the weaker scenario. An inadequate reserve, or a return that depends only on the price rising, is a reason to recheck the budget before you buy. You can also browse properties in Dubai to compare on equal terms. If you are weighing residency alongside the purchase, read the separate guide to the Dubai property Golden Visa and keep that budget apart.