\nin transactions in 2025 (DLD)<\/p>\n
205,100<\/strong> 129,400<\/strong> AED 111 Billion<\/strong> The DLD recorded 16,959 real estate transactions in February 2026, with a combined value of AED 60.60 billion, representing a 5% increase in volume and an 18.14% increase in value compared to February 2025. Arabian Business<\/p>\n Residential prices increased by 0.71% over the month and 10.79% year-over-year. Trade Brains<\/p>\n (period overlapping with the beginning of the conflict)<\/p>\n The market recorded 15,196 transactions worth AED 50.58 billion \u2014 an increase of 29.7% in value and 5.63% in volume compared to the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n Ramadan is traditionally a slower period for the market, but 2026 defied that trend. Gulf News<\/p>\n Overall market activity remained strong, with 17,461 transactions recorded for a monthly volume of AED 72.4 billion, while demand in the off-plan market continued to dominate. Trade Brains<\/p>\n The Director General of the DLD publicly stated:<\/p>\n \u201cOur objective for 2033 is to reach one trillion in transactions. In 2025, we are already at 917 billion. 2026 will be a major year.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n These were the foundations on which the crisis hit \u2014 not a fragile market, but a market at the peak of its strength.<\/p>\n The question everyone is asking: are owners panicking?<\/p>\n The answer, supported by data, is no.<\/p>\n The main reason: 60% of real estate purchases in Dubai are made in cash.<\/p>\n No mortgage. No bank recalls. No pressure for forced sales.<\/p>\n Owners are freely choosing to stay \u2014 and they are choosing to stay.<\/p>\n On February 28, 2026, Iran launched more than 1,130 missiles and drones toward the UAE.<\/p>\n The UAE\u2019s multilayer defense system intercepted 95\u201396% of them.<\/p>\n Dubai International Airport resumed commercial flights in less than 8 days. Daily life in Dubai returned to normal within days.<\/p>\n The three major rating agencies \u2014 S&P, Moody\u2019s, and Fitch \u2014 maintained the UAE\u2019s AA sovereign rating without any downgrade following a large-scale ballistic attack.<\/p>\n This is a rare and powerful institutional statement.<\/p>\n Shopping malls, hotels, schools, and offices reopened at near-normal capacity.<\/p>\n Dubai Mall attendance reached 190,000 visitors per day by the second week.<\/p>\n The city did not stop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2026 Dubai Equestrian World Cup \u2013 March 29, 2026<\/p>\n The 2008 global financial crisis. COVID-19 in 2020. The war in Ukraine in 2022. The Gaza conflict in 2023.<\/p>\n With every crisis, the market corrected \u2014 then went on to reach a new record.<\/p>\n Transactions rose from AED 71.5 billion in 2020 to AED 917 billion in 2025.<\/p>\n That represents a twelvefold increase in just five years.<\/p>\n Those who hesitated after COVID in 2020 missed the largest real estate rally in the emirate\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Those who waited after Gaza in 2023 watched the market break five consecutive records.<\/p>\n Zero income tax. For the future investor, the question is no longer whether Dubai is safe.<\/p>\n The answer is already written in the data.<\/p>\n The real question is: when to enter the market.<\/p>\n Sources: Dubai Land Department (DLD) \u00b7 S&P Global Ratings \u00b7 Moody\u2019s \u00b7 Fitch \u00b7 Knight Frank MENA \u00b7 Gulf News \u00b7 The National \u00b7 CNBC \u00b7 CBUAE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite the regional crisis, property owners in Dubai are not selling. Here\u2019s why \u2014 and what the official DLD figures tell us about the future. 01 \u2014 The Numbers A market that entered the crisis from a position of historic strength Even before tensions escalated, Dubai was recording its strongest real estate year in fifty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18583,"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18579\/revisions\/18583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nresidential sales
\n+18% vs 2024<\/p>\n
\nnew investors in 2025 (+23%)<\/p>\n
\nin January 2026 alone<\/p>\nFebruary 2026 (before the conflict)<\/h3>\n
Ramadan 2026 (Feb 18 \u2013 Mar 19)<\/h3>\n
March 2026 (during the conflict)<\/h3>\n
\n02 \u2014 Investor Behavior<\/h2>\n
They are not selling. Here\u2019s why.<\/h3>\n
\n\n
\n \nBehavioral Indicator<\/th>\n Current Situation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Cash transactions (early 2026)<\/td>\n ~60% of deals<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Properties above AED 10M sold in Jan. 2026<\/td>\n 990 transactions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Recovery in property viewings (10 days after the conflict began)<\/td>\n +75%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Off-plan contract cancellations<\/td>\n Almost zero<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Average decline in physical property prices<\/td>\n ~4%, not a collapse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n03 \u2014 The Resilience of the United Arab Emirates<\/h2>\n
The crisis is strengthening confidence, not destroying it<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20250405-3U6A3641wc.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the-dubai-life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dubai-world-cup.jpg\")
<\/p>\n04 \u2014 The Lesson of History<\/h2>\n
Dubai has rebounded before. Every single time.<\/h3>\n
\nDubai After the Crisis: Stronger, Not Weaker<\/h2>\n
\nZero tax on real estate capital gains.
\n10-year Gold Visa.
\n90,000 visas issued in 2025.
\nAA sovereign rating maintained under missile attacks.
\nAirport reopened within 8 days.<\/p>\n