Dubai developers registered 243 active projects with the Dubai Land Department in 2026. Between them those projects carry 83,011 homes and a declared value of AED 74.07 billion, which is USD 20.17 billion at the pegged rate of 3.6725.
Almost none of it has been built.
We pulled the DLD project register dated 2 September 2026 and checked the percent complete field on every active project. The median is zero. Not close to zero. Zero.
The 2026 Launch Cohort in Six Numbers
- 243 active projects and a further 80 sitting at pending
- 83,011 homes, made up of 69,337 units and 13,674 villas
- AED 74.07 billion of declared project value, USD 20.17 billion
- 145 separate developers
- 147 of 243 projects sit at exactly zero per cent complete
- 236 of 243 are under five per cent complete
Read the last two again. Of 243 live projects carrying 83,011 homes, exactly one is more than a quarter built. That is a 99 home project called 24HC in Um Hurair Second at 80 per cent. After that the next most advanced project on the entire register is at 15.3 per cent.
Who Launched What
Here is the 2026 cohort by developer group. We have grouped the special purpose vehicles back to their parent, so every DAMAC entity counts as DAMAC and the Emaar joint ventures count as Emaar. That is how a buyer thinks about it, even though the register lists them separately.
| Developer | Projects | Homes | Value USD | Median built | At zero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binghatti | 11 | 11,370 | 1.50 billion | 0.0 per cent | 11 of 11 |
| Emaar | 28 | 10,348 | 4.89 billion | 0.4 per cent | 11 of 28 |
| DAMAC | 15 | 10,217 | 951 million | 0.2 per cent | 4 of 15 |
| Danube | 4 | 4,848 | 888 million | 0.1 per cent | 1 of 4 |
| Sobha | 2 | 2,853 | 996 million | 0.0 per cent | 2 of 2 |
| Azizi | 8 | 2,255 | 162 million | 2.0 per cent | 3 of 8 |
| Ellington | 2 | 1,609 | 378 million | 0.3 per cent | 1 of 2 |
| Nshama | 5 | 1,059 | 226 million | 0.0 per cent | 3 of 5 |
| Samana | 4 | 962 | 125 million | 0.0 per cent | 4 of 4 |
| Dubai South | 7 | 902 | 552 million | 0.0 per cent | 7 of 7 |
| Reportage | 4 | 786 | 91 million | 0.0 per cent | 4 of 4 |
| Object One | 2 | 649 | 31 million | 0.0 per cent | 2 of 2 |
Those twelve groups account for 47,858 of the 83,011 homes. The remaining 35,153 are spread across more than 130 smaller developers, which is a story in itself.
The Three That Matter Most
Binghatti launched the most homes. Eleven projects, 11,370 homes, USD 1.50 billion. Every single one of those eleven projects is recorded at zero per cent complete. Not one has a brick above ground in the register.
Emaar launched the most money. Twenty eight projects, 10,348 homes, USD 4.89 billion. That is more than three times Binghatti in value from a similar number of homes, which tells you exactly where in the market each one is selling. Emaar also has the highest completion figure of the twelve groups at 4.1 per cent, and that is on one of its smaller projects.
DAMAC launched almost as many homes as Emaar for a fifth of the value. Fifteen projects, 10,217 homes, USD 951 million. Median completion 0.2 per cent.
Those three groups alone account for 31,935 homes, which is 38 per cent of everything registered in 2026.
One more number worth sitting with. Across the whole 2026 cohort, the most advanced project carrying 500 homes or more is at 2.03 per cent complete. That is Trump Tower by Dar Global, 574 homes. Every other large project in the cohort is below it.
What This Actually Means If You Are Buying
We are a brokerage. We sell off plan. So take this in the spirit it is meant, because we would rather tell you than have you work it out after you have paid a deposit.
A registration is not a building. When a project enters the DLD register it has land, an escrow account and an approved plan. It does not have progress. The 83,011 homes above are a statement of intent by 145 companies, not a delivery schedule.
Percent complete is the number to ask for, and almost nobody asks. It is recorded by the DLD and it is checked. Before you sign anything, ask the agent what the registered completion percentage is on that specific project and on that specific date. If they do not know it, they have not done the work.
Zero per cent is normal for a new launch and it is not a red flag on its own. A project registered in June 2026 should be at zero in September. What matters is the combination of the completion percentage, the handover date being promised, and the developer track record. A 2028 handover date on a project at zero per cent in late 2026 is ordinary. A 2027 handover date on a project at zero per cent is a question you should ask out loud.
Supply lands in clusters. If a meaningful share of 83,011 homes completes inside the same window, the rental market in the affected communities feels it. We published the detail of that timing risk in our analysis of the 2027 and 2028 handover wall.
How to Check a Developer Yourself
You do not need us for this and you should not take our word for it.
- Ask the developer or the agent for the DLD project number, not the marketing name
- Ask for the registered completion percentage and the date it was recorded
- Confirm the project has a live escrow account, which every registered project must have by law
- Ask what that developer has actually handed over, not what they have announced
- Match the promised handover date against the completion percentage and see whether the arithmetic works
We wrote a longer walkthrough of that process in how to check a Dubai developer delivery record.
Method and limits
The basis. The 2 September 2026 export holds 324 rows. This page counts the 243 marked ACTIVE. A further 79 are PENDING and one is PENDING_COMING_SOON, which together make the 80 pending projects quoted above. One row is CANCELLED and is excluded from every figure here.
How each number is built. Homes is the unit count plus the villa count on those 243 rows, 69,337 plus 13,674, giving 83,011. Value is the sum of the project value field, AED 74,069,226,540, converted at the pegged rate to USD 20.17 billion. The register lists 145 distinct developer names. The table above groups special purpose vehicles back to the parent, so Emaar Dubai South counts under Emaar and not under Dubai South. That grouping is ours and the register does not make it.
Completion. Median completion across the 243 is 0.00 per cent and the mean is 0.89 per cent. 147 projects, 60.5 per cent of the cohort, sit at exactly zero.
Escrow. All 243 active projects carry a registered escrow account. We publish escrow status as yes or no only and never publish escrow account numbers.
Why no price screen applies. Our sales pages screen out transactions below AED 500 per square foot as non market. That screen belongs to the transaction register. This page uses the project register, which carries no transaction prices, so no screen applies and none should be inferred.
Currency of the data. The Dubai Land Department had published no newer project register when this page was last checked on 10 October 2026.
Every figure on this page comes from the Dubai Land Department project register as published on 2 September 2026. We have not adjusted, modelled or estimated anything. The dollar conversions use the pegged rate of AED 3.6725 to USD 1.
Three limits you should know about before you quote this anywhere.
- This is the 2026 registration cohort only. It is not every project under construction in Dubai. Projects registered in earlier years are further along and are not counted here
- Percent complete in the register can lag the site. It is updated on inspection, so a project that has just started foundations may still read zero. Treat it as a floor, not a photograph
- The register carries no completion dates on these active rows, so we have not published any. Anyone quoting handover dates from this dataset is making them up
Contact Cresco Real Estate Today
We are a RERA licensed brokerage, ORN 34288. If you are looking at a specific project from the 2026 cohort, send us the name and we will pull its registered completion percentage and its escrow status before you commit to anything.
If you are buying from the United States, we publish research for cross border buyers, including what Dubai actually costs by price band in US dollars.
This page is market research and general information. It is not investment advice and it is not a recommendation to buy or avoid any project or developer. Figures are as recorded by the Dubai Land Department on 2 September 2026 and will change.
For what the market actually paid in the same period, see Dubai property prices per square foot from 10,004 August 2026 sales.