Dubai’s prime residential segment kept gaining value in the third quarter of 2026 even as the wider market slowed, according to Savills’ “Dubai Residential Market Report – Q3 2026,” published 12 October 2026 and reported in detail by Emirates 24|7. Luxury apartment prices rose 4% year-on-year to an average of AED5,237 per square foot, while luxury villas and townhouses rose 3.6% year-on-year to an average of AED2,791 per square foot. Savills’ own summary of the report frames this as resilience set against a cooling backdrop: “Dubai’s residential market entered a period of stabilisation during Q3 2026, with transaction activity, pricing and new supply moderating following several years of strong growth,” and “the prime residential segment continued to demonstrate resilience despite lower transaction volumes.”
Citywide, Savills recorded about 34,500 residential transactions in Q3 2026, down 4% quarter-on-quarter, for a total transacted value of AED70.8 billion — with “headline apartment and villa prices” softening across the market even as “like-for-like pricing remained relatively stable,” which Savills attributes partly to a shift in the mix of properties sold rather than a broad repricing. Ready (completed)-property transactions strengthened to AED25.1 billion, up from AED21.3 billion in the second quarter. The report also found 669 residential transactions above AED10 million in the quarter, including a Palm Jumeirah villa sold for AED260 million, a villa in Hills View, Dubai Hills Estate for AED252 million, and an Aman Residences apartment for AED166 million.
One figure needs unpacking rather than repeating at face value: residential rental transactions rose 16% quarter-on-quarter, to 181,900 deals from 156,200 in the second quarter (roughly flat against 180,600 in the same quarter of 2025). Savills’ own report describes this explicitly as rental activity, not a rent-price increase — the new-lease share of transactions rose to 44% from 36%, led by Business Bay, Jumeirah Village Circle, Jumeirah Village Triangle and Downtown Dubai, while the report points to “initial signs of stabilising rents” with performance uneven area by area. In other words: more people signed leases, not that asking rents jumped 16%.
On supply, developers launched around 5,000 new residential units in the quarter, bringing 2026’s year-to-date total to about 50,000 — a more selective pace, with the top five developers accounting for 47.9% of transactions and the top five locations 33.7%. One project bucked the slower launch pace entirely: Imtiaz’s AED1.5 billion RAW District 2, on the Sheikh Zayed Road/Jebel Ali corridor, sold out on its launch day. Savills’ own forward outlook — attributed to the report, not Zagdim’s inference — expects fewer launches and delayed completions to ease supply pressure in the near term, but flags more than 525,000 residential units scheduled for delivery between 2027 and 2030, meaning population growth, housing demand and project-specific fundamentals “will play an increasingly important role” as the market moves toward what Savills calls “a more sustainable equilibrium.”
Separately, Dubai Land Department’s own “Dubai REST” app recorded a snapshot of one weekend’s citywide activity (reported 13 October 2026 via Voice of Emirates): AED4.69 billion in total registered real estate transactions over the weekend across 1,367 dealings. Sales accounted for 61.4% of that value — AED2.88 billion across 725 deals (590 residential units, 77 buildings, 58 land plots), split between AED1.95 billion in ready-property sales (254 deals) and AED926.36 million in off-plan sales (471 deals). Mortgages added AED1.4 billion across 545 transactions, and gifts AED412.28 million across 97 transactions. This is a routine, citywide DLD disclosure rather than a luxury-specific figure, but it shows registered transaction velocity staying high even as Savills’ quarterly data shows overall deal counts cooling.
This is a different instrument from Zagdim’s 13 October report on Dubai’s AED152 billion Metro Blue Line-linked infrastructure forecast (zagdim.com/en, post 6758): that story covered a brokerage-sourced forecast of future value gains near specific transit stations, while this one covers Savills’ own realized Q3 2026 pricing and transaction data for the prime residential segment and a routine DLD weekend transaction count.
References
Emirates 24|7 – Dubai luxury property prices up by 4%, with rentals jumping 16% / Savills – Dubai Residential Market Report – Q3 2026 / Voice of Emirates – 61.4% sales percentage.. Dubai real estate transactions amounted to AED 4.69 billion over the weekend
