Dubai: Rental Yields for Apartments Updated (2026)

Authored by the expert who managed and guided the team behind the United Arab Emirates Property Pack

This blog post covers what rental yields look like for apartments in Dubai, as of March 2026.

We update this page regularly so that you always have the most current picture of the Dubai residential property market.

Below you will find a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown, a full comparison table, and the key figures you need to make a more informed decision as a foreign buyer in Dubai.

And if you are planning to buy a property in Dubai, you may want to download our real estate pack about Dubai.

Fact-checked and reviewed by our local expert

✓✓✓

Ines Benaddi 🇲🇦🇫🇷

Real Estate Agent, Dubai Real Estate

Ines is an expert in Dubai’s property market and her insights were precious to help us write this blog post. With her experience and the support of a leading agency, she provides personalized guidance to help you maximize your investment and achieve your real estate goals in Dubai.

Who is the author of this content?

SANDS OF WEALTH

A team specialized in real estate investing in MENA countries (Morocco, UAE, Oman, etc.)

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Dubai. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.

A quick summary table

Metric	Value
Dubai neighborhood with the best gross rental yield	Dubai Sports City (studio, 10.9%)
Dubai neighborhood with the weakest gross rental yield	International City (1-bedroom, 5.1%)
Average gross rental yield across Dubai apartments in 2026	~6.9%
Average net rental yield across Dubai apartments in 2026	~5.4%
Median apartment purchase price in Dubai (2026)	~AED 1,490,000
Average monthly rent across Dubai neighborhoods in this table	~AED 9,600
Average occupancy rate across Dubai apartments in this table	~93%
Fastest leasing market in Dubai	International City (studio, ~12 days)
Slowest leasing market in Dubai	Downtown Dubai (3-bedroom, ~40 days)
Highest occupancy market in Dubai	Dubai Sports City, JVC, DSO, Arjan, JLT (95%)
Best value high-yield segment in Dubai (2026)	Studios in Dubai Sports City and DSO
Yield gap between top and bottom Dubai neighborhoods	~5.8 percentage points (gross)

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Dubai apartment neighborhoods ranked by rental yield in 2026

This table ranks Dubai apartment neighborhoods and property types by gross rental yield, from highest to lowest.

For each entry, you will find the average purchase price, average monthly rent, gross rental yield, net rental yield, annual ownership fees, average occupancy, average time to rent, who rents there, the main risk to be aware of, and the overall investment profile.

Finally, please note you will find much more detailed data in our real estate pack about Dubai.

#	Neighborhood	Property type	Gross rental yield	Net rental yield	Average purchase price	Average monthly rent	Ownership annual fees	Average occupancy	Average time to rent	Main rental demand	Main risk	Rental Investment Profile
1	Dubai Sports City	Studio apartment	10.9%	8.6%	AED 517,000	AED 4,692	AED 8,931	95%	14 days	Single professionals and investors	Amenity-heavy service charges	Top Pick
2	Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO)	Studio apartment	9.9%	8.1%	AED 497,000	AED 4,112	AED 6,434	95%	13 days	Tech staff and singles	Supply growth in new buildings	Top Pick
3	Dubai Sports City	1-bedroom apartment	8.4%	6.4%	AED 765,000	AED 5,358	AED 12,103	95%	15 days	Young professionals and couples	Amenity-heavy service charges	Top Pick
4	Arjan	Studio apartment	8.2%	6.7%	AED 644,000	AED 4,417	AED 7,266	95%	13 days	Young professionals and couples	Pipeline of new completions	Top Pick
5	International City	Studio apartment	8.1%	6.5%	AED 518,000	AED 3,500	AED 5,705	94%	12 days	Budget singles and couples	Older stock and parking pressure	Top Pick
6	Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC)	Studio apartment	8.0%	6.4%	AED 687,000	AED 4,583	AED 8,582	95%	14 days	Young professionals and couples	Heavy new-launch competition	Top Pick
7	Dubai Sports City	2-bedroom apartment	7.9%	5.9%	AED 1,361,000	AED 8,975	AED 20,364	94%	19 days	Small families and sharers	Amenity-heavy service charges	Strong Potential
8	Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT)	Studio apartment	7.9%	6.5%	AED 835,000	AED 5,500	AED 8,699	95%	16 days	Metro-linked professionals and couples	Cluster-by-cluster quality variation	Top Pick
9	Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO)	1-bedroom apartment	7.4%	5.9%	AED 878,000	AED 5,415	AED 10,217	95%	14 days	Tech staff and couples	Supply growth in new buildings	Strong Potential
10	Business Bay	Studio apartment	7.3%	6.0%	AED 1,059,000	AED 6,417	AED 9,100	94%	18 days	Single professionals near DIFC	Higher turnover and vacancy risk	Strong Potential
11	Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO)	2-bedroom apartment	7.2%	5.7%	AED 1,490,000	AED 8,965	AED 16,292	94%	18 days	Small families and professionals	Supply growth in new buildings	Strong Potential
12	Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC)	1-bedroom apartment	7.2%	5.7%	AED 1,100,000	AED 6,583	AED 12,840	95%	15 days	Young professionals and couples	Heavy new-launch competition	Strong Potential
13	Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT)	1-bedroom apartment	7.1%	5.7%	AED 1,335,000	AED 7,917	AED 13,010	94%	18 days	Metro-linked professionals and couples	Cluster-by-cluster quality variation	Strong Potential
14	Arjan	2-bedroom apartment	7.1%	5.7%	AED 1,621,000	AED 9,583	AED 16,013	94%	16 days	Small families and couples	Pipeline of new completions	Strong Potential
15	Arjan	1-bedroom apartment	7.1%	5.7%	AED 1,090,000	AED 6,417	AED 11,259	95%	14 days	Young professionals and couples	Pipeline of new completions	Strong Potential
16	Business Bay	1-bedroom apartment	6.8%	5.5%	AED 1,614,000	AED 9,083	AED 13,084	94%	20 days	Professionals near Downtown and DIFC	Higher turnover and vacancy risk	Strong Potential
17	Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC)	2-bedroom apartment	6.7%	5.2%	AED 1,743,000	AED 9,750	AED 19,469	94%	18 days	Small families and couples	Heavy new-launch competition	Strong Potential
18	Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT)	2-bedroom apartment	6.7%	5.3%	AED 2,118,000	AED 11,750	AED 19,761	93%	22 days	Families and professional sharers	Cluster-by-cluster quality variation	Strong Potential
19	Dubai Marina	1-bedroom apartment	6.4%	5.2%	AED 1,715,000	AED 9,167	AED 13,838	93%	22 days	Expat professionals and couples	Short-term supply competition	Strong Potential
20	Business Bay	2-bedroom apartment	6.3%	5.1%	AED 2,448,000	AED 12,833	AED 19,069	93%	24 days	Couples and sharers near offices	Higher turnover and vacancy risk	Good Potential
21	Dubai Creek Harbour	1-bedroom apartment	6.1%	4.8%	AED 1,880,000	AED 9,500	AED 16,193	94%	22 days	Professionals seeking newer stock	Future supply absorption risk	Good Potential
22	Dubai Marina	2-bedroom apartment	6.0%	4.8%	AED 2,748,000	AED 13,833	AED 21,270	92%	28 days	Expat couples and sharers	Short-term supply competition	Good Potential
23	Dubai Marina	3-bedroom apartment	6.0%	4.7%	AED 4,173,000	AED 21,000	AED 31,522	91%	34 days	Affluent families and executives	Short-term supply competition	Good Potential
24	Downtown Dubai	1-bedroom apartment	5.9%	4.6%	AED 2,400,000	AED 11,833	AED 19,879	92%	26 days	Corporate tenants and couples	High service charges	Good Potential
25	Dubai Creek Harbour	3-bedroom apartment	5.9%	4.7%	AED 4,439,000	AED 21,833	AED 34,459	92%	31 days	Families seeking newer waterfront stock	Future supply absorption risk	Good Potential
26	International City	2-bedroom apartment	5.8%	4.4%	AED 1,200,000	AED 5,833	AED 11,855	92%	20 days	Budget families and sharers	Older stock and parking pressure	Good Potential
27	Dubai Creek Harbour	2-bedroom apartment	5.6%	4.3%	AED 3,042,000	AED 14,083	AED 25,275	93%	27 days	Small families and professionals	Future supply absorption risk	Good Potential
28	Downtown Dubai	2-bedroom apartment	5.4%	4.2%	AED 4,444,000	AED 20,167	AED 35,532	91%	33 days	Corporate tenants and families	High service charges	Moderate Appeal
29	Downtown Dubai	3-bedroom apartment	5.3%	4.0%	AED 7,412,000	AED 32,917	AED 55,896	90%	40 days	Executives and affluent families	High service charges	Moderate Appeal
30	International City	1-bedroom apartment	5.1%	3.6%	AED 847,000	AED 3,583	AED 9,208	93%	16 days	Budget couples and sharers	Older stock and parking pressure	Moderate Appeal

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Key insights about apartment rental yields in Dubai

Insights

Dubai Sports City studios deliver the highest gross yield in this table at 10.9%, which is more than double what you get from a Downtown Dubai 3-bedroom at 5.3%. The choice of neighborhood and unit size matters far more than most buyers expect.
In Dubai, studios consistently beat larger apartments on rental yield. Across every neighborhood in this table, the studio always ranks above the 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom from the same area.
Dubai Silicon Oasis studios offer one of the fastest lease-up times in Dubai at around 13 days, while still delivering a 9.9% gross yield. That combination of speed and return is unusual for any market.
Arjan is often overlooked but delivers gross yields above 7% across all three unit sizes. Its proximity to Dubai's healthcare and retail hubs supports steady rental demand from young professionals and couples.
JVC and JLT both offer gross yields above 6.5% on studios, but JVC tends to lease faster. If tenant turnover is a concern, JVC's shallower vacancy risk gives it a slight practical edge for buy-to-let investors in Dubai.
Business Bay studios yield 7.3% gross, but leasing takes about 18 days, which is noticeably slower than JVC or DSO. That slower absorption can eat into net returns in a way the gross yield figure does not show.
Dubai Marina's appeal is mostly about prestige and location. A Marina 1-bedroom yields around 6.4% gross, but once you account for service charges and occasional vacancy, the net return drops to about 5.2%, which is below what you get from several less famous Dubai neighborhoods.
Downtown Dubai's high service charges are a real drag on net performance. A 1-bedroom in Downtown costs around AED 2.4 million and generates roughly AED 19,900 in annual fees alone, which pushes net yield down to about 4.6%.
Dubai Creek Harbour looks more like a capital growth story than an income play for now. Gross yields of around 5.6% to 6.1% are decent, but the area still carries meaningful supply absorption risk as new towers complete over the next few years.
International City studios still deliver an 8.1% gross yield and lease in about 12 days, the fastest in this table. But the older building stock and weaker resale liquidity mean this strategy works best as a pure income play rather than a long-term hold.
The gap between gross and net yield widens significantly at the top end of the market. A Downtown Dubai 3-bedroom loses about 1.3 percentage points to fees alone, while a Dubai Sports City studio only loses around 2.3 points, reflecting how much heavier the cost burden is in Dubai's premium districts.
Foreign buyers who want the safest entry into Dubai real estate income tend to do best with a studio or 1-bedroom in a mid-range area like JVC, DSO, or Arjan, where yields are solid, leasing is quick, and exit liquidity is reasonable.

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About our methodology

We also believe it is important to show our reasoning. It is one of the ways we make our work solid, transparent, and rigorous, just as you will see in our real estate pack about Dubai.

First, please note that this data is updated regularly, so what you see here reflects the current values as of today.

In order to get reliable data, we applied a strict source filter. We only used authoritative, verifiable sources, not random listings or unsupported figures. More on that point below.

For each Dubai neighborhood and property type, we aggregated the freshest purchase price and monthly rent data available. When possible, we cross-checked multiple sources to confirm the same range.

This allowed us to estimate rental yield before costs. That is the gross yield, based on annual rent versus purchase price.

We then estimated rental yield after costs. That is the net yield, after recurring ownership and operating expenses in Dubai.

These expenses vary across Dubai neighborhoods, which is why two areas with similar rents can still produce different net returns.

For example, prime Dubai districts like Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina carry higher service charges, while older buildings in areas like International City may have more maintenance and repair costs. In high-turnover areas such as Business Bay, vacancy and tenant-related costs can also be higher.

We estimated annual ownership fees by combining the main recurring costs for each asset in Dubai. This includes Dubai Land Department service charges where applicable, building maintenance fees, insurance, and a landlord reserve for minor repairs and leasing admin.

These estimates were not applied as one flat number across Dubai. They were adjusted by neighborhood and property type to reflect local ownership conditions more accurately.

This table should be read as a structured market estimate, not as a guarantee of future performance. Honesty, quality, and rigor are at the core of our work, and they are also what you will find in our real estate pack about Dubai.

What sources have we used to write this blog article?

Whether it's in our blog articles or the market analyses included in our real estate pack about Dubai, we rely on verifiable sources and a transparent methodology.

We also aim to be fully transparent, so below we have listed the authoritative sources we used, explained how we used them, and described the methods behind our estimates.

Source	Why it is authoritative	How we used it
Dubai Land Department Rental Index	It is the official Dubai government benchmark tool for residential rents.	We used it as the legal reference point for rental levels across Dubai neighborhoods. We cross-checked our area rent assumptions against the official regulatory framework to make sure they were grounded.
Dubai Land Department Service Charge Index	It is the official Dubai government tool for approved service charges in jointly owned properties.	We used it as the base framework for annual ownership costs across Dubai apartments. We kept our net yield estimates tied to Dubai's real service charge system rather than guesswork.
Bayut Dubai Rental Market Report 2025	Bayut is one of Dubai's largest property portals and publishes detailed, area-level rental data each year.	We used it for neighborhood-by-neighborhood apartment rent benchmarks across areas including JVC, JLT, Business Bay, Dubai Marina, Arjan, and Dubai Creek Harbour. We relied on it heavily for understanding tenant demand patterns in each Dubai district.
Bayut Dubai Sales Market Report 2025	Bayut's annual sales report is one of the most widely cited Dubai apartment price datasets.	We used it for by-area apartment purchase price averages and reported ROI ranges. We applied it especially for JVC, Business Bay, JLT, Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Arjan, and Dubai Creek Harbour.
Property Finder UAE Annual Market Watch 2025/2026	Property Finder is one of the UAE's largest portals and publishes structured, data-driven market analysis.	We used it as a second major cross-check on Dubai demand conditions and population inflows. We also used it to fill in pricing detail for International City where other sources did not publish full by-type averages.
Cavendish Maxwell Dubai Residential Market Performance FY 2025	Cavendish Maxwell is a long-established valuation and advisory firm active in the UAE market.	We used it to cross-check overall transaction scale and supply conditions across Dubai's apartment market. We used it to temper neighborhood yield assumptions against broader 2025 market fundamentals.
CBRE UAE Real Estate Market Review Q4 2025	CBRE is one of the world's largest property consultancies, with deep coverage of the UAE market.	We used it to cross-check supply volumes and transaction growth in Dubai's residential sector. We used it to identify where rising new supply could put pressure on future rent growth in specific Dubai neighborhoods.
Knight Frank Dubai Residential Market Review Q4 2025	Knight Frank is a major global real estate research house with strong Dubai market coverage.	We used it to understand the difference between mainstream and prime Dubai apartment performance. We used it to explain why high-prestige areas like Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina can carry lower yields despite strong capital values.