The median home registered in Dubai last month sold for AED 1,108,207. An expatriate buying that home with the largest mortgage the Central Bank allows needs AED 300,398 in cash on the day of transfer.
Only AED 221,641 of that is the deposit. The other AED 78,757 is fees, and since 1 February 2025 no UAE bank is allowed to lend you any part of it.
We took the 10,123 residential unit sales in the Dubai Land Department register for August 2026, screened out 167 rows below AED 500 per square foot, and applied the published fee schedule to every one of the remaining 9,956 sales. This is what the cash requirement actually looks like.
The short answer, at real registered prices
Every price below is a real point in the August 2026 register, not a round number we chose. The cash column assumes an expatriate buying a first home with the maximum mortgage, paying the buyer costs that are standard in Dubai practice.
| Where it sits | Purchase price | Deposit at max mortgage | Fees | Cash needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest tenth | AED 586,000 | AED 117,200 | AED 45,858 | AED 163,058 |
| Lower quarter | AED 699,225 | AED 139,845 | AED 52,991 | AED 192,836 |
| Median home | AED 1,108,207 | AED 221,641 | AED 78,757 | AED 300,398 |
| Upper quarter | AED 1,766,312 | AED 353,262 | AED 120,218 | AED 473,480 |
| Top tenth | AED 2,874,546 | AED 574,909 | AED 190,036 | AED 764,946 |
| Top 5 per cent | AED 4,000,000 | AED 800,000 | AED 260,940 | AED 1,060,940 |
Half of the homes registered last month needed less than AED 300,000 in cash. That is 4,970 of the 9,956 sales we measured. Three quarters needed less than AED 500,000.
Where the deposit number comes from
The deposit is not a bank preference. It is a cap written into the Central Bank of the UAE mortgage regulations, Article 3. The bank may lend up to the ratio below and no further.
| Buyer and purpose | Property value | Maximum loan | Minimum deposit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expatriate, first home | AED 5 million or less | 80% | 20% |
| Expatriate, first home | Above AED 5 million | 70% | 30% |
| Expatriate, second or investment | Any value | 60% | 40% |
| UAE national, first home | AED 5 million or less | 85% | 15% |
| UAE national, first home | Above AED 5 million | 75% | 25% |
| UAE national, second or investment | Any value | 65% | 35% |
| Any buyer, off plan | Any value | 50% | 50% |
At the median registered price of AED 1,108,207 an expatriate first home buyer sits in the top row. The deposit is AED 221,641.
What the fees actually are
Dubai publishes its property fees. There is no guessing involved. Here is every charge that applies to the median registered home, taken from the Dubai Land Department service pages.
| Charge | Basis | At AED 1,108,207 |
|---|---|---|
| Land Department transfer fee | 4% of price | AED 44,328 |
| Registration trustee fee | AED 4,000 plus 5% VAT | AED 4,200 |
| Title deed issuance | Fixed | AED 250 |
| Property map, villas and apartments | Fixed | AED 250 |
| Knowledge fee | Fixed | AED 10 |
| Innovation fee | Fixed | AED 10 |
| Mortgage registration | 0.25% of the loan | AED 2,216 |
| Mortgage trustee fee | AED 4,000 plus 5% VAT | AED 4,200 |
| Mortgage knowledge and innovation fees | Fixed | AED 20 |
| Government subtotal | AED 55,485 | |
| Agency commission | 2% of price plus 5% VAT | AED 23,272 |
| Total fees | AED 78,757 |
That is 7.11 per cent of the purchase price in fees. The transfer fee alone is AED 44,328.
One point that is widely misreported. The Land Department schedule splits the 4 per cent transfer fee as 2 per cent from the seller and 2 per cent from the buyer. In Dubai practice the buyer almost always pays the full 4 per cent, and that is how we have modelled it. If you negotiate the split you save AED 22,164 at the median.
The rule that changed in February 2025
Until 2025 most UAE banks would roll the transfer fee and the agency commission into the loan. On 1 February 2025 the Central Bank of the UAE directed banks to stop. Those costs now have to be paid separately by the buyer, in cash.
The practical effect at the median home is that AED 78,757 moved out of the mortgage and into the money you need on the day. It is the single biggest reason the cash requirement is higher than buyers expect.
Off plan works differently
Of the 9,956 homes we measured, 7,362 were off plan and 2,594 were ready. The off plan mortgage cap is 50 per cent for every buyer, with no exception for nationality or price.
That cap only matters if you are borrowing. Most off plan buyers are on a developer payment plan instead, which is a commercial arrangement between you and the developer and is not covered by the Central Bank ratios. If you did finance the median home off plan at the 50 per cent cap you would need AED 633,079 in cash.
The median off plan sale registered at AED 1,054,706. The median ready sale registered at AED 1,230,000.
If you pay cash
No deposit cap applies and no mortgage fees apply. You pay the price plus the sale side charges. At the median registered home that is AED 1,180,528 in total, of which AED 72,321 is fees.
Costs this article does not include
Three charges are real but are not fixed and are not published centrally. We have left them out of every total above rather than put an invented number in a table.
- Developer no objection certificate. Required on most ready resales. The developer sets it. It is commonly a few hundred to a few thousand dirhams plus VAT and it is not published in one place.
- Bank valuation fee. Charged when you finance. Set by the bank.
- Bank arrangement fee. Charged when you finance. Set by the bank and often negotiable.
Service charges are an annual running cost rather than a purchase cost, so they are not in these totals either.
Method and limits
- Source file is the Dubai Land Department transaction register for August 2026, downloaded on 2 September 2026. It holds 15,955 registrations. We checked on 22 September 2026 and the Land Department had not yet published a newer monthly file.
- Basis for every price in this article is the site standard. Sales only, Residential usage, Unit property type. That is 10,123 sales. We then removed 167 rows priced below AED 500 per square foot as non market transfers. The median removed row was AED 40,505. That leaves the 9,956 homes used throughout.
- Square feet are converted from the register square metres at 10.7639. Dollar figures elsewhere on this site use the peg at 3.6725.
- Villas and townhouses are not in this set. The register classes them separately and they are covered in our villa article. This article is about apartments and other registered units.
- The deposit column assumes the buyer takes the maximum mortgage the Central Bank allows. Most buyers borrow less, which raises the cash needed and lowers the loan.
- We count the title deed issuance fee once, on the sale registration. We have not added a second title deed charge for the mortgage registration.
- Fee rates are the published schedules as they stood on 22 September 2026. Rates change. Confirm before you transfer.
- The register records what was paid. It does not record who the buyer was, whether they were resident, or how they funded the purchase. The mortgage scenarios here are applied by us to real registered prices. They are not observed loans.
Frequently asked questions
How much cash do I need to buy an apartment in Dubai?
At the median registered August 2026 home of AED 1,108,207 an expatriate first home buyer needs AED 300,398 in cash. That is a deposit of AED 221,641 plus AED 78,757 in fees. Across all 9,956 homes we measured, half needed under AED 300,000.
Can I borrow the 4 per cent transfer fee?
No. The Central Bank of the UAE directed banks to stop financing Land Department registration fees and broker fees with effect from 1 February 2025. You pay them in cash.
What is the minimum deposit for an expatriate in Dubai?
Twenty per cent on a first home worth AED 5 million or less. Thirty per cent above AED 5 million. Forty per cent on a second or investment property. Fifty per cent on anything off plan. These are Central Bank caps, not bank policy.
What are the total buying costs as a percentage?
At the median registered home the fees come to 7.11 per cent of the price. That is the 4 per cent transfer fee, the trustee and registration charges, the mortgage registration at 0.25 per cent of the loan, and a 2 per cent agency commission plus VAT.
Do I need to be a resident to buy?
No. Freehold ownership in the designated areas is open to non residents. Residency is not a condition of purchase. It does affect which banks will lend to you and on what terms.
Is it cheaper to buy off plan?
The median off plan sale last month registered at AED 1,054,706 against AED 1,230,000 for ready homes. That gap is a mix of location, size and stage of construction rather than a discount you can count on. If you finance off plan the mortgage cap is 50 per cent, which raises the cash you need.
Cresco Real Estate is licensed by RERA under ORN 34288. Umer Shauket holds BRN 59655. We publish from the Land Department register because it is the only record of what buyers actually paid.