Home costs
Dubai rent vs buy
Compare the cost of renting and buying over the years you plan to stay.
Compare renting and buyingYour home and mortgage
Your entries stay in this page. They are not saved or sent anywhere.
Your comparison
Example with illustrative figures, not market data or a bank offer: home AED 1,500,000, rent AED 90,000 a year, 25% down payment, 4.5% interest, 25-year loan, 5-year stay, all of the 4% fee. Enter your own figures above.
Annual price change to break even
−2.1% a year
Fees: EC 30/2013, rows 1, 10, 22; read 14 October 2026. Lease: EC 25/2009, Schedule (1), row 29; read 13 October 2026. 🟡 amendments not confirmed.
Buying costs less than renting over 5 years unless the home’s price falls by more than 2.1% a year. At that price change, the two costs are equal. This is a threshold worked out from your figures, not a price forecast.
Cash needed on day one
AED 438,063
Fees set by Executive Council Resolution No. (30) of 2013. Schedule rows 1, 10, 22; read 14 October 2026. 🟡 amendments not confirmed.
- Down payment
- AED 375,000
- Sale registration fee
- AED 60,000
- Mortgage registration fee
- AED 2,813
- Title deed
- AED 250
- Other buying costs
- not counted
- Mortgage loan
- AED 1,125,000
- Mortgage payment per month
- AED 6,253
- Mortgage payments during your stay
- AED 375,187
- Interest within those payments
- AED 238,588
- Mortgage balance after your stay
- AED 988,401
- Rent and lease registration during your stay
- AED 450,500
- Service charges during your stay
- not counted
- Return forgone on day-one cash
- not counted
- Home value needed to break even
- AED 1,351,151
Other buying costs: not counted.
Service charges: not counted.
Rent increase not entered: rent stays at today’s level.
Expected price change: not entered; the result is a threshold, not a forecast.
Return on your cash: not counted.
Expected price change not entered; no buying-versus-renting difference is shown.
Return on your cash counts only the cash needed on day one; it does not model investing monthly cash-flow differences.
Selling costs, mortgage discharge, housing fee, insurance, maintenance and utilities are not included.
How the comparison works
The day-one cash includes the down payment, your selected share of the sale-registration fee, mortgage registration when there is a loan, the title deed and any other buying costs you enter. Mortgage payments use a monthly repayment schedule. Renting includes one AED 100 lease-registration fee per year.
Buying cost over your stay = day-one cash + mortgage payments + entered service charges + entered return on day-one cash − (home value − remaining mortgage). Renting cost = annual rent with any increase you enter + lease registration. The break-even home value makes those two costs equal; its annual percentage change is the principal result.
In our words: Article 3(5) sets who pays the mortgage registration fee, subject to the loan contract. This estimate counts it on the buying side. Return on your cash counts only the cash needed on day one; it does not model investing monthly cash-flow differences. The comparison does not estimate affordability or predict prices.
Not included
Selling costs, selling commission and mortgage discharge when selling; Dubai Municipality housing fee, insurance, maintenance and utilities. The municipality housing fee is excluded from both sides because we do not have the owner-side rule. Leasing information on u.ae.
Other buying costs: not counted. Service charges: not counted. Return on your cash: not counted. Rent increase not entered: rent stays at today’s level. Expected price change: not entered; the result is a threshold, not a forecast.
Questions about renting and buying
What is the 4% fee, and who pays it?
Schedule row 1 of Executive Council Resolution No. (30) of 2013 sets a sale registration fee of 4% of the contract value. In our words: Article 3(1) splits it equally between buyer and seller unless the contract says otherwise. This calculator starts with all 4% on the buying side; you can select half (2%). Amendments have not been confirmed.
What does the Central Bank loan-to-value cap mean?
The Central Bank sets the maximum share of a home’s price that a bank can lend. The cap depends on your situation, so enter the down payment your bank confirms and check the Central Bank Rulebook.
What costs are not included?
Selling fees and commissions, mortgage discharge costs, the Dubai Municipality housing fee, insurance, maintenance and utilities are excluded. Other buying costs and service charges are counted only when entered. A blank cash return is not counted, and a blank rent increase keeps rent at today’s level.
Where do the reference home price and rent come from?
References are medians of registered ready sales and new rent contracts from Dubai Land Department via Dubai Data under the Dubai Open Data Licence. Only area, type and bedroom pairs with enough records on both sides are offered. They describe registered transactions, not listings or the RERA Rental Index.
How should I read the annual price change to break even?
It is the yearly change in the home’s value at which buying and renting cost the same over your stay. If the price does better than that, buying costs less. When the figure is negative, buying still costs less even if the price falls a little each year, as long as it falls by less than that. It is worked out from your figures; it is not a forecast. If buying would cost less even with a home worth nothing at the end, the page says so instead of giving a percentage.
Sources and limits
Short row labels are quoted; article explanations are in our words. We checked the saved HTML and PDF evidence. Amendments have not been confirmed for either resolution.
Executive Council Resolution No. (30) of 2013
Executive Council Resolution No. (30) of 2013 · read 14 October 2026. 🟡 amendments not confirmed.
Schedule, row 1: Registering a Real Property sale contract
— 4% of the sale-contract value.
Schedule, row 10: Registering a mortgage contract
— 0.25% of the mortgage debt.
Schedule, row 22: Issuing title deed of Real Property
— AED 250.
In our words: Article 3(1) splits the sale registration fee equally between buyer and seller unless the contract says otherwise. In our words: Article 3(5) sets who pays the mortgage registration fee, subject to the loan contract. This estimate counts it on the buying side. The English translation notes that the Arabic text prevails.
Executive Council Resolution No. (25) of 2009
Executive Council Resolution No. (25) of 2009 · read 13 October 2026. 🟡 amendments not confirmed.
Schedule (1), row 29: Registering a Lease Contract
— AED 100.
Central Bank mortgage regulation
The Central Bank caps how much a bank can lend; your bank will tell you the minimum down payment.
Circular 31/2013: mortgage loans · 2020 amendment to Circular 31/2013
DLD reference medians
Dubai Land Department via Dubai Data (Dubai Open Data Licence). Registered ready sales and new rent contracts; each pair has at least 10 records on each side. Period: 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. Dataset generated 2 October 2026.
Source, licence and method for the registered data.
The tables are derived by Brainy Prices and are not produced, verified or endorsed by Dubai Land Department, Dubai Data or the Dubai Government. References are medians, not valuations or the Rental Index.