News and research
What the data says about Dubai property
Original research from Natalie Burešová: what buyers in the UK, the US, Czechia and the UAE search for, what the Land Department records show selling, and what it means for anyone buying now.
Searches for Dubai property from Britain have halved since the war. Sales fell by a quarter.
Google searches for Dubai property from the UK are running at 44 per cent of their winter level. Land Department registrations are down 25 per cent and the median price per square foot 4.7 per cent. The gap between the two is the story.
British buyers stopped asking how to buy and started asking whether prices are falling
UK searches for "how do I buy" fell to a third of their winter level. Searches for Dubai property prices went up 144 per cent, property news doubled, and "prices falling" rose four to five times.
Americans trade the Palm for Business Bay
US searches for Dubai property fell less than British ones, and they moved. Business Bay, Silicon Oasis, Damac Hills and International City rose by a third or more while the Palm and the Marina halved.
Residents dropped the Palm and kept the suburbs
Searches made from inside the UAE held at three quarters of their winter level, far better than any foreign market. But the mix moved: Palm Jumeirah lost three quarters of residents' attention while Dubai Hills, Downtown and the family communities held.
Nobody publishes a Dubai price index written for buyers. So here is one.
Searches for a Dubai real estate index rose from almost nothing to hundreds a month in three countries after the war. The Land Department publishes every sale. This index joins the two, community by community, every month.
Developer-direct searches from the US are up two and a half times. Buyers are going round brokers.
While every other Dubai property search fell, Americans searched for developers by name: "property developers dubai" went from 115 to 417 a month, Damac searches rose 76 per cent, and the developer cluster finished the summer at 146 per cent of its winter level.
Czech interest in Dubai property falls to a third, and follows named advisers
Czech-language searches for Dubai property spiked in March as the war broke, then fell to a third of their winter level. The market is small, sceptical since the spring press coverage, and it searches for people by name.
Abu Dhabi is four per cent of Dubai for foreign buyers, and the one question with its own audience is "Abu Dhabi or Dubai"
UK searches for Abu Dhabi property are 4 per cent of the Dubai total and US searches 2 per cent. Investment-intent searches are under 1 per cent. Aldar's own name outsearches every investment phrase combined.
The numbers behind these stories are kept up to date on the Dubai Property Index, last updated 16 October 2026.
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