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A Cavendish Maxwell report placed Dubai residential sales at 57,300 transactions from January through April 2026 with the off-plan segment generating 42,500 deals to capture 74 percent of activity. Off-plan sales alone included 10,231 units in April as developers continued to attract buyers with new projects. Ready property transfers fell 16 percent over the same four-month stretch in a sign that secondary market momentum cooled relative to future-oriented purchases.
April itself produced 13,082 total residential transactions according to the same Cavendish Maxwell data a modest rise from the 12,889 recorded in March. That monthly figure nevertheless stood nearly 20 percent below April 2025 with off-plan contracts declining 14 percent year on year and ready sales dropping 39 percent. The consultancy observed that its preliminary tallies typically lag official Dubai Land Department registrations by several weeks meaning second-quarter statistics would offer a more complete view.
Ronan Arthur a director at Cavendish Maxwell said “Dubai’s real estate market remains strong with the off-plan sector once again dominating.” He added that fundamentals stayed intact and that clearer data would emerge with the publication of full quarterly figures. Arthur’s assessment came in the May 2026 market update that drew on transaction records to evaluate sector performance.
Cavendish Maxwell had earlier reported 44,100 residential transactions for the first quarter of 2026 alone marking a 4.2 percent increase from the year-earlier period with off-plan sales rising 10.3 percent to represent 73 percent of the quarterly total. The four-month slowdown therefore stemmed largely from a softer April as buyer selectivity appeared to intensify. Such patterns aligned with broader regional trends that saw transaction values and volumes adjust after several years of rapid expansion.
By the end of June 2026 cumulative residential sales for the first half of the year had climbed to roughly 79,281 transactions valued at AED 221.4 billion an Engel & Voelkers mid-year housing market review found. That half-year outcome reflected more measured buyer participation than the record levels posted in the first six months of 2025 when volumes exceeded 91,000 units. The review attributed sustained activity to demand for both completed homes and off-plan developments across key Dubai districts.
A separate Sands of Wealth analysis that incorporated Knight Frank ValuStrat and Cavendish Maxwell data estimated the average Dubai residential property price near AED 3.1 million in 2026 after prices advanced between 5 and 8 percent from the previous year. The firm noted that villa segments in prime areas posted some of the strongest gains while overall market supply continued to expand with new project deliveries scheduled through the remainder of the year. These price and volume dynamics underscored the sector’s evolution as Dubai’s real estate market matured beyond the exceptional growth rates seen in 2024 and 2025.
