Market News
Where to Get Reliable Dubai Property Information
The primary sources worth following if you want data rather than commentary.
There is no shortage of Dubai property content. There is a shortage of primary sources. If you want to form your own view, start here.
Start with the regulator
The Dubai Land Department publishes transaction data, the rental index and the official processes for registration, advertising permits and dispute resolution. This is the primary source, and almost every secondary article you will read is an interpretation of it.
Use the rental index directly
Before any lease negotiation, whether you are landlord or tenant, check the official rental index rather than relying on what an agent tells you the increase can be.
Developer investor relations material
Listed developers publish results, handover figures and pipeline data. This is more reliable than launch marketing from the same companies.
Portal data, read carefully
Major property portals publish asking price data, which is genuinely useful provided you remember it is asking, not achieved. The gap between the two is itself a market signal.
Community level sources
Owners associations, community management communications and resident groups reveal service charge trends, building issues and management quality that no market report captures.
What to be sceptical of
- Any yield figure presented without stating whether it is gross or net
- Growth percentages without a stated time period and segment
- Record transaction headlines used to characterise the whole market
- Forecasts published by parties who benefit from the forecast being believed
Including, to be fair, brokerages. Read what we publish the same way.