The Dubai Rental Report 2023

Current market conditions in Dubai have increased the prevalence of tenants to renew residential leases, creating a bifurcation between new and renewed rental rates. To better understand the extent of this and the nuances, we have undertaken a detailed analysis to determine recent trends of new and existing leases and provide an outlook on the future direction of the market.

Key Takeaways: 

• Dubai’s rental market has witnessed a significant increase in rents and activity in the past two years, ending the negative growth cycle that began in mid-2015 and lasted until late 2021
• In the year to July 2023, we have seen average rents in Dubai increase by 22.0%
• In the year to date to July 2023, the total number of tenancy contracts reached a total of 325,727, a 43.5% increase from the 227,011 contracts registered in the same period in 2019.
• The total number of new contracts registered dropped by 12.6%, whilst renewed registrations grew by 29.0%, indicating that tenants are less willing to relocate to prevent the additional costs emerging from acquiring new leases.
• The difference between apartments’ new and renewed rental rates in Dubai as at July 2023 is 20.1%.
• The difference between villas’ new and renewed rental rates in Dubai as at July 2023 is 25.2%.