Dubai Off-Plan Statistics 2026: Share of Sales, Supply Pipeline and Payment Plans

What share of Dubai property sales are off-plan?

Off-plan accounted for 71% of Dubai residential transactions in the first nine months of 2026: 81,340 off-plan sales against 33,210 secondary sales, on Property Monitor data published by betterhomes. A year earlier the share was 63%. Total volume fell 23% over that period, but secondary sales fell 40% and off-plan only 14%, which is why off-plan's share rose while its count dropped.

Over a longer run the shift is clear. Off-plan was 47% of transaction volume in 2020 and 42% in 2021, then 48% in 2022, 54% in 2023, 63% in 2024 and 65% in 2025. By value it is lower because resale homes are bigger and more expensive on average: off-plan was 53% of sales value in 2025, up from 38% in 2020.

REIDIN's Q2 2026 report puts off-plan even higher for that quarter, at 76.0% of volume and 73.6% of value, from 27,818 sales worth AED 64.75 billion (about ₹1.68 lakh crore at the FBIL rate of 16 October 2026). The two trackers use the same Dubai Land Department registrations but different cut-offs, so their quarterly numbers differ slightly.

Dubai off-plan vs ready: how the two markets moved in 2026

Q3 2026 broke the pattern. Secondary sales rose 16% on the quarter to 10,055 while off-plan fell 8% to 24,560, cutting off-plan's quarterly share from 76% to 71%. Against Q3 2025, off-plan volume was down 38% and secondary down 40%. Off-plan sales value fell 22% on the quarter to AED 46.7 billion, about ₹1.21 lakh crore.

Price per deal tells you what each market sells. The average off-plan transaction in Q3 2026 was AED 1.90 million (₹4.92 crore) against AED 2.70 million (₹6.98 crore) for a resale home. Off-plan is mostly apartments, about 72% of apartment transactions in the quarter, while villas and townhouses were split roughly evenly between new and resale.

At the top end off-plan still leads. Of the 404 transactions above AED 15 million in Q3 2026, off-plan accounted for 58%.

How many new homes are coming? The Dubai supply pipeline

DLD data shows 39,670 homes completed in 2026 up to the Q3 report, with another 25,477 scheduled for the rest of the year. After that the pipeline jumps: 1,36,815 homes scheduled for 2027, 1,53,221 for 2028, 83,163 for 2029 and 70,421 for 2030. Apartments are 91% of the 2027 total and 85% of 2028.

Compare that with what Dubai actually completes. Property Monitor recorded 44,425 completions in 2020, 35,055 in 2021, 38,156 in 2022, 35,623 in 2023, 30,360 in 2024 and 39,507 in 2025. Nothing in that record looks like 1,50,000 homes a year. Cushman & Wakefield Core expects about 55,600 handovers in 2026, the highest since 2008, but notes that only around 1,86,000 of the nearly 5,25,000 planned units had passed 20% construction progress.

For an investor the point is local. A JVC or Dubai South apartment handing over in 2027 will compete with many identical units finishing nearby, and rents at handover will reflect that.

How often are Dubai off-plan projects delayed?

Most years Dubai delivers a little over half of what is scheduled. Fitch Ratings found that from 2022 to 2024 only 97,000 of 1,74,000 projected units were delivered, a completion rate of 56%. ValuStrat put 2025 at 59% of projected delivery, about 36,000 homes, and said its 2026 projection of 1,31,000 units was likely to be revised down.

The 2026 schedule has already slipped. At the start of the year Property Monitor expected 97,813 completions for 2026; by the Q3 report DLD's completed plus scheduled figure for the year was 65,147. Fitch blames contractor availability, sales timelines, bank funding and buyer payment problems, and singles out Emaar for a strong record of finishing on time.

Slippage cuts both ways. It means the 2027 and 2028 supply wave will probably arrive slower and smaller than the headline. It also means your own handover date can move, so check the developer's record and the escrow position before paying instalments.

Where is Dubai off-plan demand concentrated, and are launches slowing?

Off-plan buying in 2025 was most concentrated in Jumeirah Village Circle, Business Bay and Dubai South, according to betterhomes. The same three areas lead the apartment completion schedule for 2026, and the villa and townhouse pipeline is led by DAMAC Lagoons, The Valley and Dubai South. That overlap is worth noticing: the places where investors bought most heavily are the places where the most keys will be handed over at once.

New supply is slowing at the front end. Cushman & Wakefield Core reported that apartment units launched in the first half of 2026 fell by around 58% year on year and villa launches by about 78%, as developers held back during the regional uncertainty of the second quarter. Fewer launches today means less competition for homes completing in 2029 and 2030, though it does nothing about the 2027 and 2028 schedule already in the ground.

Our reading for an Indian investor: buy off-plan where the developer has a delivery record and the community is not dominated by investor stock finishing in the same year, and assume handover will be later than the brochure date.

Typical Dubai off-plan payment plans in 2026

Payment plans come from developers, and the published ones fall into three shapes. The construction-heavy plan, such as Emaar's 80/20 launch offers, takes 80% during construction and 20% on completion. The balanced plan, like Sobha's 60/40 at 330 Riverside Crescent or DAMAC District's 20% deposit, 1% a month and 40% at completion, leaves more to pay at handover. Post-handover plans, such as Emaar's 25/75 on ready homes in Emaar South with three years after handover, spread the bill past completion.

For an Indian buyer the shape matters because of LRS. A plan with 40% due at handover lets you spread remittances over several financial years. An 80/20 plan front-loads the money into the build period, when the asset cannot be rented. Developer terms change often and pages say so, so treat the table as examples, not current offers.

Can you get a mortgage on off-plan property in Dubai?

Yes, but only up to half the value. The UAE Central Bank caps loan-to-value on property bought off plan at 50%, whatever the buyer's category or the price. Mashreq's key facts statement, revised in June 2026, offers up to 50% on under-construction homes and only once the project is at least 35% complete. In practice most off-plan buyers pay the construction instalments from their own funds and borrow, if at all, near handover.