Costs
The true cost of buying in Dubai: every fee, line by line
Dubai has no annual property tax and no capital gains tax, which is why the entry costs surprise people. On a ready purchase they come to about 6 to 7 per cent of the price, and almost all of it is payable on transfer day.
There is a reason international buyers compare Dubai favourably with London, Paris or Singapore: no annual property tax, no capital gains tax on a residential sale, no inheritance tax on UAE real estate, and no restriction on repatriating sale proceeds. What Dubai charges instead is a one-off transaction cost, front-loaded onto the day of transfer.
Here is the whole bill for a ready, secondary-market purchase. Figures are those in force through 2026; the percentages are stable, the fixed fees are revised occasionally.
The government fees
| Item | Amount | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee | 4% of the sale value | Dubai Land Department |
| Admin / registration charge | AED 580 (apartments & villas) | Dubai Land Department |
| Title deed issuance | AED 250 | Dubai Land Department |
| Registration trustee fee | AED 2,000 (price under AED 500k) or AED 4,000 (AED 500k+), plus 5% VAT | Trustee office |
| Mortgage registration | 0.25% of the loan + AED 290 | Dubai Land Department |
| Knowledge & innovation fees | AED 10 + AED 10 per application | Dubai Land Department |
The 4 per cent is calculated on the sale value recorded by the registry, not on a valuation. By custom the buyer pays it in full. The law does not say so, and in a soft market a seller will sometimes agree to split it — but only if it is written into the Form F before signing.
The private fees
| Item | Typical amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Agency commission | 2% of price + 5% VAT | Market standard; payable on completion |
| Developer / community NOC | AED 500 – 5,000 | Varies widely by developer |
| Conveyancing (optional) | AED 6,000 – 12,000 | Worth it on complex, off-plan or multi-party deals |
| Power of attorney | AED 2,000 – 5,000 | If you are buying remotely; notarisation and translation |
| Snagging survey | AED 1,500 – 4,000 | New build; before handover, not after |
A worked example: AED 3,000,000 apartment, cash
Transfer fee 4%: AED 120,000
Admin, title deed, knowledge fees: AED 850
Trustee fee + VAT: AED 4,200
Agency 2% + VAT: AED 63,000
Developer NOC: AED 1,500
Total on top of price: AED 189,550, or 6.3 per cent.
If you are taking a mortgage
Finance adds four more lines, and the arrangement fee is the one people forget to negotiate.
- Mortgage registration: 0.25 per cent of the loan amount plus AED 290, paid to the DLD at transfer.
- Bank arrangement fee: typically 0.5 to 1 per cent of the loan. This is routinely reduced or waived — ask.
- Valuation fee: AED 2,500 to 3,500 plus VAT, paid before approval and non-refundable if the deal falls over.
- Life and property insurance: required by most lenders; budget 0.2 to 0.4 per cent of the loan a year for life cover, less for buildings insurance.
On a 70 per cent loan against that AED 3m apartment — AED 2.1m borrowed — finance costs add roughly AED 21,000 to 32,000 at the front end, taking total entry costs to about 7 per cent.
Buying off-plan is costed differently
On a direct purchase from a developer, the 4 per cent is still due, but it is paid at Oqood registration — the interim register for units that do not yet exist — rather than on a title deed. Developers often absorb some or all of it as an incentive, and that incentive is real money, not marketing. What you should check instead is:
- Whether the 4 per cent is genuinely waived or merely deferred to handover.
- The assignment fee if you sell before completion, usually 2 to 4 per cent of the original price, plus a developer NOC and a minimum percentage paid — commonly 30 to 40 per cent — before assignment is allowed at all.
- Whether there is an administration or infrastructure charge on handover, and how much.
- The escrow account number. Every Dubai off-plan project must hold buyer payments in a RERA-supervised escrow account under Law No. 8 of 2007. Pay into the escrow account, never to a company account or an individual.
If a developer waives the 4 per cent, that is about AED 120,000 on a AED 3m unit. It is the largest negotiable item in the Dubai market.
What it costs after you own it
This is where the long-run arithmetic actually lives, and where quoted yields fall apart.
| Ongoing cost | Typical level | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Service charges | AED 8 – 35 / sq ft / year | Set per building, approved by RERA via Mollak |
| District cooling | AED 0 – 12,000 / year | Capacity charge plus consumption, where applicable |
| Housing fee | 5% of annual rental value | Residential; collected monthly through the DEWA bill |
| Letting commission | 5% of annual rent | When you place a tenant |
| Property management | 5 – 8% of rent | Optional; higher for short-let |
| Ejari registration | AED 155 – 220 | Per tenancy contract |
Service charges are the line that decides whether a 6.5 per cent gross yield is a 5.4 per cent net yield or a 4.1 per cent one. We go through them building by building here.
And when you sell
There is no capital gains tax. You will pay a seller’s agency commission if you use an agent — again 2 per cent is standard — a mortgage release fee of around AED 1,500 if the property is financed, and the developer NOC. The buyer pays the 4 per cent. Net of costs, a Dubai exit is cheap by international standards; it is the entry that needs budgeting for.
