For apartments, the 2025 gross rental yield across commonly compared Dubai areas was about 4.3% to 8.8%; after the building service charge, it was about 3.5% to 6.9%. A 10% yield does not appear in any area of this registry sample. That does not mean rents collapsed: the average contracted apartment rent rose from AED 582 per m² in 2021 to AED 899 per m² in 2026, but sale prices, service charges and operating costs determine what remains for the owner.
What rental yield means in Dubai
Rental yield is annual rent expressed as a percentage of the purchase price. It is a property-income measure, not a forecast of resale profit and not a promise of what a future tenant will pay.
The basic gross rental yield formula is:
Annual rent ÷ purchase price × 100 = gross rental yield.
For area comparisons, the same calculation can be made per square metre: annual rent per m² divided by sale price per m². This avoids comparing a small studio with a larger apartment solely by ticket price.
Gross yield is the figure most often quoted in short presentations because it starts with the full annual rent. It does not deduct the recurring service charge of the building. A net-after-service-charge figure deducts that charge before dividing the remaining rent by the purchase price:
(Annual rent − annual service charge) ÷ purchase price × 100 = net yield after service charge.
This is still not the owner’s final return. It excludes agent commission, vacancies between tenants, property-management commission, repairs and the 4% DLD fee paid on purchase. Those items depend on the transaction, building, lease arrangement and owner’s operating choices, so they cannot be converted into one universal percentage.
The distinction matters for searches such as “Dubai net rental yield”, “what is rental yield percentage” and “how to calculate gross rental yield”. A gross figure and a net figure may both be mathematically correct while describing different stages of the same investment calculation.
Dubai rental yield by area: 2025 apartment data
The table below compares average 2025 apartment sale prices with average annual contracted rents per m². It includes areas with at least 300 sales, at least 200 rental contracts and a residential Mollak service-charge budget for 2026. Area names follow the cadastral naming used in the land registry.
The service-charge column is annualised in AED per m². The net column deducts only that charge. For prices, rent and yields that can be reviewed area by area as data changes, use the Dubai area prices, rents and yield page.
| Area | Sale price, AED/m² | Rent, AED/m²/year | Service charge, AED/m²/year | Gross yield | Net after charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Warsan First | 7,297 | 643 | 143 | 8.8% | 6.9% |
| Al Hebiah Third | 15,980 | 1,045 | 50 | 6.5% | 6.2% |
| Al Hebiah Second | 15,113 | 1,050 | 172 | 6.9% | 5.8% |
| Al Merkadh | 22,259 | 1,506 | 244 | 6.8% | 5.7% |
| Al Barsha South Fourth | 15,780 | 1,006 | 146 | 6.4% | 5.4% |
| Al Yelayiss 2 | 15,305 | 911 | 90 | 6.0% | 5.4% |
| Warsan Fourth | 10,972 | 737 | 151 | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| Al Hebiah Fourth | 13,295 | 862 | 151 | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid | 25,771 | 1,498 | 124 | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| Saih Shuaib 2 | 15,174 | 901 | 111 | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Al Barsha South Fifth | 16,755 | 1,012 | 153 | 6.0% | 5.1% |
| Al Thanyah Third | 19,866 | 1,199 | 201 | 6.0% | 5.0% |
| Me’Aisem First | 14,775 | 923 | 198 | 6.2% | 4.9% |
| Al Barshaa South Third | 15,307 | 918 | 165 | 6.0% | 4.9% |
| Al Khairan First | 26,147 | 1,440 | 226 | 5.5% | 4.6% |
| Al Thanyah Fifth | 21,867 | 1,141 | 145 | 5.2% | 4.6% |
| Al Hebiah Fifth | 14,798 | 820 | 149 | 5.5% | 4.5% |
| Wadi Al Safa 2 | 14,077 | 734 | 119 | 5.2% | 4.4% |
| Wadi Al Safa 5 | 14,489 | 768 | 156 | 5.3% | 4.2% |
| Dubai Investment Park Second | 15,676 | 773 | 112 | 4.9% | 4.2% |
| Nad Al Shiba First | 20,304 | 983 | 130 | 4.8% | 4.2% |
| Burj Khalifa | 31,226 | 1,568 | 275 | 5.0% | 4.1% |
| Wadi Al Safa 3 | 15,802 | 771 | 140 | 4.9% | 4.0% |
| Nadd Hessa | 15,692 | 752 | 146 | 4.8% | 3.9% |
| Business Bay | 26,941 | 1,293 | 245 | 4.8% | 3.9% |
| Jabal Ali First | 18,536 | 869 | 178 | 4.7% | 3.7% |
| Al Jadaf | 20,472 | 939 | 179 | 4.6% | 3.7% |
| Madinat Al Mataar | 17,885 | 823 | 174 | 4.6% | 3.6% |
| Marsa Dubai | 30,678 | 1,315 | 204 | 4.3% | 3.6% |
| Al Wasl | 34,222 | 1,321 | 148 | 3.9% | 3.4% |
| Al Hebiah First | 18,614 | 740 | 162 | 4.0% | 3.1% |
| Palm Jumeirah | 40,376 | 1,502 | 280 | 3.7% | 3.0% |
| Jumeirah First | 47,304 | 1,167 | 79 | 2.5% | 2.3% |
The lowest figures are part of the picture too. An expensive location can command high annual rent in dirham terms while producing a lower rent-to-price ratio. Palm Jumeirah averaged AED 1,502 per m² in annual rent, but its AED 40,376 average sale price per m² produced a 3.7% gross yield before service charges. Jumeirah First showed 2.5% gross and 2.3% after the stated charge.
Why 10% appears in presentations but not in this comparison
A quoted 10% can arise from a narrow calculation rather than an area-wide, repeatable result. One route is to use a low purchase price in a cheaper segment and divide an optimistic or current rent estimate by that price. The resulting percentage is gross: it may exclude the service charge and every other ownership cost.
Another route is a guaranteed-rent programme. The relevant number is then tied to the programme term and its contractual conditions. It should not be treated automatically as the property’s sustainable market rental yield after that period. A buyer needs to distinguish the stated guaranteed payment from the rent that comparable completed homes actually contract for, and distinguish both from the owner’s net cash result.
Off-plan ROI creates a separate source of confusion. A developer payment plan, a lower initial entry price, a projected rental figure and an expected resale price can be placed in the same slide. They are different variables. Rental yield is rent relative to purchase price. ROI may be used more broadly to include price movement, purchase costs, financing or other cash flows. A high projected off-plan ROI is therefore not proof that the completed apartment will deliver a high long-term rental yield.
There is no evidence in the area comparison that the market shifted from a universal 10% apartment return to 5% in one year. The 2025 area figures show that 10% was not the typical registered gross outcome in this sample in the first place.
Why studios usually show higher rental yield than three-bedroom apartments
Smaller apartments do not necessarily earn more rent in dirham terms. They usually cost less to buy relative to the rent they can achieve. That difference is visible across Dubai apartment transactions and lease contracts in 2025.
| Apartment type | Average sale price | Average annual rent | Gross yield | Annual service charge | Net after charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | AED 774,959 | AED 43,521 | 5.6% | AED 6,346 | 4.8% |
| 1 bedroom | AED 1,441,196 | AED 64,620 | 4.5% | AED 11,741 | 3.7% |
| 2 bedrooms | AED 2,675,027 | AED 91,128 | 3.4% | AED 19,198 | 2.7% |
| 3 bedrooms | AED 5,393,599 | AED 150,031 | 2.8% | AED 30,780 | 2.2% |
A studio averaged a 5.6% gross yield, compared with 2.8% for a three-bedroom apartment. The studio’s average annual rent was lower, yet its average purchase price was much lower relative to rent. The service charge also rises with apartment size in this comparison: AED 6,346 for the average studio and AED 30,780 for the average three-bedroom unit.
This does not establish that every studio is preferable to every larger apartment. It shows why “buy studios or one-beds for long-term rent” is a reasonable question to test with numbers rather than a rule to apply without checking the building, price and lease evidence.
What the service charge changes
Service charges are often the first omitted line in a gross-yield calculation. In this area set, the annual charge ranged from AED 50 per m² in Al Hebiah Third to AED 280 per m² in Palm Jumeirah.
Business Bay is a clear example. The gross yield was 4.8%, based on an average 2025 sale price of AED 26,941 per m² and annual contracted rent of AED 1,293 per m². The annual service charge was AED 245 per m². After deducting that charge, the yield fell to 3.9%, before any vacancy, repair, agent or management costs are considered.
A building’s charge cannot safely be inferred from its district. Different projects have different budgets and charge lines. Before using any yield figure, check the actual building through the Mollak service-charge index for a specific property. The relevant question is not whether a district is described as “high yield”; it is what the particular apartment costs to own after its own building charge is applied.
Costs that sit below the net-after-service-charge figure
The net figures in the table are not a full cash-flow model. They deduct the annual service charge only. The following costs can reduce the owner’s result further:
- Agent commission connected with leasing or a transaction.
- Vacant periods between tenants.
- Property-management commission.
- Repairs and maintenance that remain the landlord’s responsibility.
- The 4% DLD fee at purchase.
Maintenance is not hypothetical. Under Law No. 26 of 2007, unless the parties agree otherwise, the landlord is responsible during the lease term for maintenance works and repairing defects or damage affecting the tenant’s intended use of the property. The same law provides that the tenant must maintain the property as an ordinary person would, subject to agreed or customary tenant restorations. The lease wording and the circumstances determine where a particular cost falls.
Law No. 26 of 2007 also requires a written lease contract setting out the property, term, rent and payment method. Lease contracts covered by the law must be registered with RERA. For a landlord preparing to rent out a completed apartment, the practical process around Ejari registration and using a property-management company should be reviewed before estimating net income.
Rent growth supports the market, but it does not create a fixed yield
Apartment contract rents have increased materially since 2021.
| Year | Rental contracts | Average rent, AED/m²/year | Average contract, AED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 403,989 | 582 | 55,052 |
| 2022 | 458,001 | 637 | 59,076 |
| 2023 | 497,472 | 720 | 65,273 |
| 2024 | 530,595 | 819 | 72,580 |
| 2025 | 540,095 | 895 | 78,123 |
| 2026 | 335,059 | 899 | 78,793 |
The move from AED 582 per m² in 2021 to AED 899 per m² in 2026 explains why rental income has attracted attention. Yet yield is a ratio. If the purchase price rises as fast as, or faster than, rent, the yield can remain modest or decline. A property purchased at one price can therefore show a different yield from the same property bought later, even if its annual rent increases.
For lease renewals, Law No. 26 of 2007 states that rent and other terms cannot be amended before two years from the start of the original contractual relationship. At renewal, where the parties do not agree and an extension is necessary, the Tribunal may determine rent using the average rent of similar property, considering the condition of the property and the prevailing rate for comparable property in the same area. This is another reason not to model future rent as an automatic annual increase.
How to check yield for one apartment rather than an area average
Area averages are a starting point. They are not a valuation of a particular unit. A real calculation should be rebuilt from the actual purchase price, area, current lease position and building charge.
- Use the agreed purchase price for the unit, rather than an advertised starting price.
- Check the unit’s area and calculate the annual service charge using the applicable building rate.
- Compare the proposed rent with contracts for similar apartments, not only listing prices.
- Identify whether the property is vacant, occupied under an existing fixed-term lease, or offered with a rent-guarantee programme.
- List the costs that will be borne by the owner, including leasing, management, repairs and the DLD purchase fee.
- Calculate gross yield first, then deduct each identified cost separately.
Law No. 26 of 2007 provides that a valid fixed-term lease is not ended unilaterally by either landlord or tenant during its term except by mutual consent or under the law. It also states that transfer of ownership does not affect a tenant’s right to remain under a fixed-term lease entered with the previous owner. For an occupied unit, the current contract is part of the investment position, not a detail to be added after calculating yield.
The Dubai rental yield and ROI calculator can be used to separate gross rent, service charge and other owner costs in one calculation. Its output will only be as reliable as the purchase price, rent and building figures entered into it.
Frequently asked questions
Is 5% rental yield good in Dubai?
A 5% figure needs a label. In the 2025 apartment area comparison, gross yields ranged from 2.5% to 8.8% among areas with service-charge data, while net-after-service-charge yields ranged from 2.3% to 6.9%. A 5% gross yield and a 5% net result are materially different.
Are 10%+ rental yields still available in Dubai?
No 10% gross yield appears in the 2025 area sample. A 10% presentation figure may reflect a cheap-segment gross calculation or a guaranteed-rent programme for its stated term, rather than sustainable net rental income.
What is the rental yield in Business Bay?
For apartments in 2025, Business Bay showed 4.8% gross yield and 3.9% after the stated annual service charge of AED 245 per m². Leasing, vacancy, management, repairs and purchase costs are not deducted from 3.9%.
What is the rental yield in Dubai Marina?
Marsa Dubai, the cadastral area used for Dubai Marina, showed 4.3% gross yield and 3.6% after service charges in this comparison. The average sale price was AED 30,678 per m² and average annual rent was AED 1,315 per m².
Why is off-plan ROI sometimes quoted higher than completed-property yield?
Off-plan ROI can combine an assumed future rent, an entry price, a payment plan and an expected resale outcome. Completed-property rental yield measures annual rent against purchase price. They are not the same metric.
Does a high service charge make an apartment a bad investment?
It reduces the income left after that charge, but the answer depends on the actual rent and purchase price. Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid had a AED 124 per m² annual charge and still showed 5.3% after that charge; Palm Jumeirah had AED 280 per m² and showed 3.0% after it.
How can I see investment income before buying?
Use the actual purchase price, comparable contracted annual rent, the building’s service charge and a separate list of transaction and operating costs. Do not treat a district average or a developer projection as the result for a particular apartment.
