Dubai registered 324 new development projects in 2026, worth AED 95,083,658,273 and promising 93,256 homes. 203 of them have not broken ground.
Not “early stage”. Zero per cent complete, as recorded by the Dubai Land Department itself. Another 95 are under ten per cent. Exactly one project out of 324 is more than a quarter built.
If you are being sold a launch right now, this is the pipeline you are buying into. Here is all of it, from the official project register.
The scale of the 2026 launch cohort
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Projects registered | 324 |
| Homes promised | 93,256 |
| Apartments and units | 79,582 |
| Villas | 13,674 |
| Land plots | 262 |
| Total registered project value | AED 95,083,658,273 |
| Status active | 243 |
| Status pending | 79 |
93,256 homes is about 9.2 months of Dubai transaction volume at the 10,123 unit sales the city registered in August. One year of launches equals roughly nine months of demand, and it does not arrive evenly.
Almost none of it is built
| Construction progress | Projects | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Exactly 0 per cent | 203 | 63% |
| Above 0 and under 10 per cent | 95 | 29% |
| 10 to 25 per cent | 5 | 2% |
| Over 25 per cent | 1 | 0% |
| No figure recorded | 20 | 6% |
92 per cent of the cohort is under ten per cent complete. That is normal for a launch year and it is not a scandal. It matters because it tells you what you are actually buying: a contract and a completion date, not a building.
The last row is the one to pay attention to. 20 projects carry no completion figure at all. Every one of them is registered as pending, and not one of them has an escrow account on file. That combination, pending status, no progress figure and no escrow, is the thing to check before you pay anybody anything.
When it all lands
| Completion year | Projects | Homes | Registered value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 37 | 13,374 | AED 6,191,884,080 |
| 2028 | 128 | 21,259 | AED 15,339,403,891 |
| 2029 | 97 | 29,046 | AED 30,910,621,660 |
| 2030 | 51 | 22,344 | AED 26,404,798,202 |
| 2031 | 9 | 5,907 | AED 14,696,098,681 |
| 2032 | 2 | 1,326 | AED 1,540,851,759 |
2029 is the peak with 29,046 homes from this cohort alone. And this is only the projects registered in 2026. The 2024 and 2025 cohorts hand over across the same window. Anyone modelling Dubai supply on one launch year is undercounting.
The near term is thinner than people assume. Only 13,374 homes from this cohort are due in 2027.
Who is building it
| Developer | Projects | Homes | Registered value | Value per home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binghatti Developers | 16 | 13,363 | AED 8,795,404,394 | AED 658,191 |
| Emaar Development | 18 | 6,239 | AED 13,097,318,809 | AED 2,099,266 |
| Danube Properties | 4 | 4,848 | AED 3,260,000,000 | AED 672,442 |
| Damac Prime Development | 10 | 4,659 | AED 1,981,885,055 | AED 425,389 |
| Damac Elite Investment | 2 | 4,035 | AED 1,022,698,180 | AED 253,457 |
| Azizi Developments | 9 | 3,531 | AED 856,565,500 | AED 242,584 |
| Sobha | 2 | 2,853 | AED 3,656,319,439 | AED 1,281,570 |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 3 | 1,852 | AED 2,481,076,969 | AED 1,339,674 |
Binghatti is building more than twice as many homes as Emaar and spending less to do it. 13,363 homes at AED 658,191 of registered project value per home, against Emaar at 6,239 homes and AED 2,099,266 per home. That is a 3.2 times gap.
Read that carefully, because it is not a quality verdict. Registered project value is the development value filed with the Land Department. It is not the sale price and it is not a build quality score. What it does tell you is that these two developers are aiming at completely different parts of the market, and the register shows it in one number.
Where it is going
| Area | Projects | Homes |
|---|---|---|
| Al Yelayiss 1 | 12 | 8,694 |
| Madinat Al Mataar | 45 | 8,230 |
| Nad Al Shiba First | 11 | 6,013 |
| Wadi Al Safa 3 | 19 | 5,358 |
| Jabal Ali First | 9 | 4,715 |
| Wadi Al Safa 5 | 19 | 4,683 |
| Al Jadaf | 12 | 4,325 |
| Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah | 12 | 4,255 |
Madinat Al Mataar has 45 separate projects, more than any other area, and it is the Al Maktoum airport district in Dubai South. Al Yelayiss 1 leads on homes with 8,694. Nad Al Shiba First is third.
None of the top three are Downtown, the Marina or the Palm. This is the same outward pattern we found in the sales register, where 58.7 per cent of homes sold last month had no metro station recorded against them. Dubai is being built away from the existing network, and the launch pipeline confirms it rather than contradicting it.
The protection question
250 of the 324 projects have a registered escrow account on file. Escrow is the mechanism that stops a developer spending your payment on something other than your building. It is the single most important thing to verify before you sign.
We will tell you whether a specific project has one. We will not publish escrow account numbers, for any project, ever. That is account data and it does not belong on a public page.
What to actually do with this
- Ask for the project number and check the register yourself. Every one of these 324 projects has a Land Department project number, a status and a completion percentage. It is verifiable.
- Treat the completion date as the developer’s plan, not a promise. The register records a scheduled end date. It does not guarantee it.
- If you want handover soon, the 2027 band is small. 13,374 homes from this cohort, against 29,046 in 2029. Waiting for a 2029 completion is a different risk from a 2027 one.
- Confirm the escrow account exists before any payment. Ask us or ask the Land Department. Do not take a brochure as evidence.
- Do not read this cohort as the whole supply picture. It is one launch year. The 2024 and 2025 cohorts complete across the same period.
Method and limits
Source is the Dubai Land Department project register, filtered to projects with a 2026 start date, 324 rows. Home counts are the register unit and villa count fields added together. Project value is the registered development value as filed. Completion percentage and scheduled end date are as recorded.
Stated limits. Registered project value is a development value, not a sale price and not a build cost we have audited, so the value per home column compares filings and nothing more. Scheduled completion dates are plans and Dubai has a long history of them moving. This is the 2026 cohort only and is not total Dubai supply. Two projects carry a status other than active or pending and are included in the counts. The 20 projects with no completion figure are counted in every other table. We hold escrow account numbers for these projects and do not publish them.
Frequently asked questions
How many new projects launched in Dubai in 2026?
324 projects were registered with the Dubai Land Department with a 2026 start date, promising 93,256 homes at a total registered value of AED 95,083,658,273.
How many new homes are being built in Dubai?
The 2026 launch cohort alone accounts for 93,256 homes, 79,582 apartments and units plus 13,674 villas. Earlier launch years add to that.
When will Dubai new projects be completed?
From the 2026 cohort, 13,374 homes are scheduled for 2027, 21,259 for 2028, 29,046 for 2029 and 22,344 for 2030. 2029 is the peak.
Which developer is building the most homes in Dubai?
In the 2026 cohort, Binghatti with 13,363 homes across 16 projects, ahead of Emaar with 6,239 homes across 18 projects.
Are Dubai off plan projects actually under construction?
Mostly not yet. 203 of the 324 projects in the 2026 cohort are at exactly zero per cent complete and 92 per cent are under ten per cent. A further 20 carry no completion figure at all.
Where are the most new Dubai projects being built?
Madinat Al Mataar, the Al Maktoum airport district, has 45 projects. Al Yelayiss 1 has the most homes at 8,694.
Related reading
- Six in ten Dubai homes sold are not near a metro station
- Dubai developers: the 2026 launch cohort
- Average Dubai property price: 73 per cent of buyers paid less
- Dubai property gift transfers: AED 3.97 billion moved without a sale
Cresco Real Estate is a Dubai brokerage registered with RERA under office registration number 34288. We read the full Dubai Land Department register every month and publish the method with the findings. If you want the register entry for one specific project, including whether it has an escrow account, ask us and we will pull it.