Every Dubai agent tells American and European buyers the same thing: you can get a mortgage here, up to 80 per cent for residents, 50 to 60 per cent for non residents. That is true. It is also close to irrelevant for most of what is actually being sold, and the Dubai Land Department register shows exactly why.
We pulled every transaction the DLD registered in August 2026. 15,955 records. Here is what they say about financing.
The one number that matters
Off plan was 67.1 per cent of all Dubai sales in August. It was 1.6 per cent of all mortgages.
| August 2026 | Off plan | Ready |
|---|---|---|
| Registered sales | 7,779 | 3,821 |
| Registered mortgages | 58 | 3,677 |
| Share of all mortgages | 1.6 per cent | 98.4 per cent |
7,779 off plan sales. 58 off plan mortgages. That is one mortgage for every 134 off plan purchases.
Two thirds of the market is being bought without a bank anywhere near it.
Why, and it is not what people assume
It is not that banks refuse off plan. Several UAE banks will pre approve against an off plan purchase. The reason the register looks like this is structural.
A UAE mortgage funds on handover, not on booking. The bank releases money when the title deed exists. Until then there is no asset to secure a charge against, only a contract with a developer. So the payment plan instalments you make during construction, typically 50 to 70 per cent of the price over two to four years, come out of your own pocket.
The developer payment plan is the finance product. It is interest free, it needs no bank approval, no salary certificate and no credit check in the UAE. For a buyer sitting in Los Angeles or London with no UAE income history, that is a far easier route than a non resident mortgage at 50 to 60 per cent loan to value.
So the payment plan is not a discount on financing. It is the financing. And it shifts the entire risk of the construction period onto you rather than a bank.
What this means for your cash plan
If you buy off plan on a 60 40 plan at AED 2 million, you will pay AED 1.2 million in cash across the construction period before a bank will look at you. The mortgage, if you want one, arrives at handover and covers the final 40 per cent, minus whatever loan to value you qualify for at that point, in that year, under whatever rules apply then.
Three things people get caught by:
- Your income can change over four years. The approval you assumed at booking is not the approval you get at handover.
- Loan to value rules can change. They have before.
- The 4 per cent DLD fee is due at purchase, not at handover. It is never financed.
We wrote about the gap between the last payment plan instalment and the first mortgage drawdown in our guide to the handover cash gap. It is the single most common thing buyers underestimate.
The ready market runs completely differently
3,677 of the 3,735 mortgages registered in August were against ready property. Against 3,821 ready sales in the same month. The two numbers sit close together, which tells you that bank finance in Dubai is a secondary market product, not a new build one.
One caveat we will not paper over. Those two figures are not a mortgage take up rate. A mortgage can be registered by someone who already owns the property and is releasing equity, and a cash purchase creates a sale with no mortgage at all. The counts are close, but they are counting two different populations. What the comparison does show, reliably, is that mortgage activity tracks the ready market and essentially ignores the off plan one.
New mortgage registrations, August 2026
Stripping out modifications, portfolio changes and lease finance, there were 3,232 new mortgage registrations in August, worth AED 10.56 billion, at a median of AED 1,440,000. 3,052 were residential and 180 commercial.
| Area | New mortgages | Median amount |
|---|---|---|
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 264 | AED 852,517 |
| Business Bay | 167 | AED 1,112,000 |
| Al Hebiah Fifth (Dubai Sports City area) | 148 | AED 2,090,000 |
| Al Furjan | 134 | AED 1,004,000 |
| Jabal Ali First | 111 | AED 2,100,000 |
| Dubai Marina | 108 | AED 1,633,333 |
| Madinat Hind 4 | 106 | AED 1,102,025 |
| Downtown (Burj Khalifa) | 89 | AED 2,110,000 |
| Dubai Hills | 87 | AED 2,084,503 |
| Arjan | 72 | AED 832,520 |
Jumeirah Village Circle leads on volume and sits near the bottom on size. That is the mortgage market in one line: it is mid market ready apartments, not trophy assets and not new launches.
How we would use this
If you need leverage, buy ready. That is where the banks are, that is where the comparable evidence is, and you own something the day you pay.
If you buy off plan, plan the whole construction period in cash and treat any mortgage at handover as a bonus rather than a plan. Get a mortgage in principle anyway, because it costs nothing and it tells you what a bank thinks of your file today.
If an agent tells you the payment plan means you do not need finance, they are half right. You do not need a bank. You do need the cash, on their schedule, whatever happens to your income in the meantime.
Method and source
Dubai Land Department open transaction data, August 2026, downloaded 2 September 2026. 15,955 records covering sales, mortgages and gifts. Sales and mortgage counts are taken as the DLD classifies them. Off plan and ready status is the DLD field, not our judgement. New mortgage registrations exclude modifications, portfolio modifications and lease to own conversions. We publish the method because the numbers are only worth something if you can check them.
For the wider picture on pricing in the same month, see our August price per square foot report.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get a mortgage on off plan property in Dubai?
Yes, several UAE banks offer it, but the money is released at handover when the title deed exists. In August 2026 only 58 of 3,735 registered mortgages were against off plan property, which is 1.6 per cent.
How much deposit do I need for a Dubai mortgage?
UAE residents can typically borrow up to 80 per cent on a first property under AED 5 million. Non residents are usually limited to 50 to 60 per cent. The 4 per cent Dubai Land Department transfer fee is paid separately and is never financed.
Is a developer payment plan cheaper than a mortgage?
It carries no interest, so on headline cost it usually is. It is also a shorter schedule with larger instalments and no bank underwriting your ability to pay, so the risk of the construction period sits entirely with you.
What was the median Dubai mortgage in August 2026?
AED 1,440,000 across 3,232 new registrations, worth AED 10.56 billion in total.