Cash buyers made up 44% of Betterhomes' Dubai sales in Q3 as the UAE base rate rose

Mortgages still funded most of its deals, at 56%. That share was 64% in Q2 and 50% in Q1.

The Central Bank of the UAE raised its base rate from 3.65% to 3.90%, effective 17 September, and held it at its 28 October meeting.

Lomond, the mortgage platform run with Betterhomes, called it a modest move and said it does not expect major changes to standard fixed-rate products. Betterhomes said the bigger effect may be on how much buyers can borrow, rather than on rates.

Saad Hussain of Alaia Developments gave a worked example. On an AED 2 million home with 20% down, a 25-year loan of AED 1.6 million costs about:

He said some lenders advertise introductory fixed rates from about 3.75%, and three-year fixed packages at about 3.89% to 4%.

Other figures in the report point to an even higher cash share market-wide. Hamptons research put cash at about 83% of residential deals in December 2025 and 76% in March 2026.

Off-plan made up about 71.3% of Dubai residential sales in H1 2026, according to Engel & Völkers.

Most off-plan buyers pay the developer in instalments, not with a mortgage. A loan usually comes in only at handover, for the balance due then.

If your plan leaves a large payment on handover, get a mortgage pre-approval early. Base it on today's rates and your own income, so you know how much you can borrow when that payment falls due.