Dubai land sales: 2026 figures, by area and land use

From 1 January to 26 October 2026, Dubai Land Department registered sales show about AED 146 billion of land sold in Dubai, through 10,770 transactions. That covers every plot sold in the emirate, from single villa plots to large parcels bought for new master communities.

The figures come from the Dubai Land Department's register of land sales, the same register that records every apartment, villa and building. A land sale is counted when the transfer of a plot is registered, not when a deal is agreed.

The first seven months show how land sits in the wider market. Land made up only about one sale in twelve, but almost two in every five dirhams spent. Plots are fewer and larger than homes, so a small number of deals carries a large share of the value.

Me'aisem 2 recorded the highest land sales value in 2026 to 26 October, at AED 10.7 billion across 557 deals. Al Yelayiss 5 followed with AED 7.4 billion across 942 deals, then Palm Jebel Ali with AED 7 billion across 165 deals.

Why the district names look unfamiliar

The Dubai Land Department records land by its land-registry district, not by the marketing name of a community. Me'aisem, Al Yelayiss, Al Hebiah and Al Ruwayyah are registry districts, each of which can hold several branded communities and projects.

Spellings also vary. You will see Al Yelayiss written as Al Yalayis, and Me'aisem as Meaisem, in different documents; they are the same districts. When you check a plot, the title deed and site plan give the registry district and plot number, which are what count.

Two patterns in the list

A few very large deals. Al Ruwayyah 1 reached AED 6.3 billion from just three deals, and Umm Suqeim 1 reached AED 4.6 billion from 30. Districts like these are ranked by a handful of large parcels, usually land for a whole development.

Many smaller plots. Al Yelayiss 5 recorded 942 deals and Al Hebiah 5 recorded 875. Districts with hundreds of deals are more often places where plots are being sold in numbers, including subdivided plots and plots inside new communities.

Residential land took the larger share by both value and number. From 1 January to 26 October 2026, residential land sales reached AED 88.6 billion, 61% of the value, across 7,545 plots, 70% of the deals. Commercial land reached AED 57.2 billion, 39% of the value, across 3,225 deals, 30% of the total.

Because commercial land has a larger share of value than of deals, the average commercial deal is larger than the average residential one. That fits what commercial land is used for: offices, hotels, retail and mixed-use schemes, usually on bigger parcels.

Residential land includes both the plots that developers buy for apartment towers and villa communities, and the individual plots that private buyers buy to build a home. The registered figures do not separate the two.

By the end of July, 7,981 land sales worth AED 125 billion had been registered. By 26 October the totals had reached 10,770 sales and about AED 146 billion.

Over the first seven months, land averaged about 1,140 sales and about AED 17.8 billion a month. Use the cumulative figures as a record of what was registered, not as a run rate: a few very large parcels in any month can move the value a long way.

A land transaction is a registered procedure on a plot of land: a sale, a mortgage or a gift. The Dubai Land Department records it under the land property type, separately from units (apartments and villas sold as units) and buildings (whole buildings).

The sales figures in this guide count land sales only. Mortgages registered against land and plots transferred as gifts are separate procedures and are not included in the totals above.

Land types

The Dubai Land Department's open data classifies land by type: residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, public facilities and government authority land. The press figures in this guide group sales into residential and commercial.

Each land record also shows whether the plot is freehold. That matters for foreign buyers, because only plots in designated freehold areas can be owned outright by non-UAE nationals. Our guide to freehold areas in Dubai explains where those are.

Off-plan and ready do not apply in the same way

For homes, Dubai Land Department data separates off-plan sales (registered on the interim register, Oqood) from ready sales. Land is not split that way. A plot is sold as land whether it is empty, has a building permit or is part of a community under construction.

Most of the value in Dubai land sales is development land, bought by developers and investors to build projects for sale. A much smaller part is individual plots, bought by private buyers to build their own villa.

If you want to build your own home, our guide to buying a plot in Dubai covers design rules, permits, the build stage by stage and financing. To browse projects that sell plots and villas, see our plots page and the villas in Dubai page.

Why development land matters to off-plan buyers

Development land is where future off-plan projects start. A developer buys a parcel, gains approvals, registers the project with the Dubai Land Department, opens an escrow account and only then launches sales.

A land sale on its own does not tell you when a project will launch, what it will cost or whether it will go ahead. Treat it as background, and judge any launch on its registration, escrow account, developer track record and contract. Our guide to checking an off-plan project and developer in Dubai shows how.

It shows how much land was turned into finished homes and buildings. In the first half of 2026, the value of land allocated to completed projects in Dubai reached AED 19.46 billion, up from AED 8.27 billion in the first half of 2025. The land area allocated to those projects rose to about 1 million square metres, from 484,000 square metres.

These figures look at the other end of the pipeline from land sales. Land sales record plots changing hands; completed-project figures record land that has been built on and handed over. Our near-handover projects page lists projects we track that are close to completion.

Land is a large part of the value of Dubai's property market, though a small part of the number of deals. From January to July 2026, land was 39% of the value of all sales and about 8% of sales transactions.

Totals for "all real estate transactions" include mortgages and gifts as well as sales, so they are larger than sales alone. Compare land sales with sales totals, not with all-transaction totals. For the off-plan home market specifically, see our Dubai off-plan market report for H1 2026.

They tell you where land has been bought, which is where projects are likely to come next. They do not tell you what homes will cost, when they will launch or how values will move.

Use them for context. If a district has seen hundreds of land deals, new communities there are likely to keep launching for some years. Ask the developer of any project you are considering about the planned supply around it.

Do not use them to predict prices. A large land deal records what one buyer paid for one parcel. It is not a price for homes and it is not a signal about future values.

Check the project, not the district. Every off-plan project must be registered with the Dubai Land Department and have an escrow account before sales begin. Our guides to the Dubai escrow law and Oqood registration explain what to check.

Look at the plan. The emirate's long-term land-use plan sets where homes, jobs and green space go. Our guide to the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan explains it.

Through the Dubai Land Department's open data service. Its real estate data search covers transactions, land, buildings, units, projects, rents and valuations, and lets you filter by property type and download results as a spreadsheet.

1. Open the Dubai Land Department's real estate data page and choose Transactions.
2. Filter by property type (land), transaction type (sales, mortgages or gifts) and a date range.
3. Narrow by area to see the deals in one registry district.
4. Use the Land category to see a plot's size, land type and freehold status.
5. For a specific plot you are buying, rely on the title deed, site plan and affection plan, not on a search result.

Our guide to the Dubai REST app covers the Dubai Land Department's app for checking projects, title deeds and developers.

This table lists the Dubai off-plan projects we track that include plots, lowest published price first, and updates as we add projects.

For finished villa designs rather than land, see our villas and townhouses pages, or our guide to the cheapest villas in Dubai. For the very top of the market, see our guide to mansions in Dubai.

Land sale. A registered transfer of a plot of land from one owner to another, counted by the Dubai Land Department when the transfer is registered.

Registry district. The land-registry area a plot sits in, such as Me'aisem 2 or Al Yelayiss 5. It can differ from the community's marketing name.

Development land. Land bought to build a project of many units for sale or rent.

Custom-build plot. A plot inside a master community sold to a private buyer to build one home within the master developer's design guidelines.

Freehold. Outright ownership of the property and the land beneath it, open to all nationalities in designated areas.

Escrow account. The project bank account into which off-plan buyers' payments must be made, released to the developer as construction progresses.

• Buying a plot in Dubai to build your own villa
• Plots for sale and villas in Dubai
• Freehold areas in Dubai
• DLD fee in Dubai
• Living on Palm Jebel Ali
• Dubai off-plan launches announced for 2027
• New launches and all off-plan projects