Off-plan cools, mortgages climb: reading Dubai’s mixed property signals
Dubai’s latest property data tells two stories at once. Off-plan sales cooled sharply in September, yet the value of registered mortgages over the year so far is running well ahead of 2025. For buyers, the gap between those two numbers is where the useful insight sits.
The numbers at a glance
- AED 150.15 billion in registered mortgages from January to September 2026, up about 14% on AED 132.21 billion a year earlier
- Around 30,170 mortgage transactions registered over the nine months, with AED 16.79 billion in September alone
- 7,157 off-plan sales worth AED 14.3 billion in September, against 14,044 worth AED 28.8 billion in September 2025: roughly half by both volume and value
- Off-plan villa and townhouse transactions up 64.1% year on year, against the wider trend
Read the figures carefully
These two data sets are not a straight comparison. The mortgage figure covers nine months, while the off-plan decline compares a single month with the same month last year. Mortgage registrations also include refinancing and other secured lending, so rising mortgage values do not simply mean buyers have switched from off-plan to ready homes.
What the numbers do show is that financing remains a large and steady part of the market, even in a month when launch-driven off-plan activity slowed.
Villas and townhouses buck the trend
The strongest signal in the data is the jump in off-plan villa and townhouse sales. While overall off-plan volumes halved, demand for family homes with more space moved firmly the other way. It reflects a buyer base that is increasingly end-user led, choosing homes to live in rather than units to flip.
What this means if you are buying
- A calmer off-plan market can work in your favour. With less rush around launches, there is more time to compare projects, developers and payment plans properly.
- Look at the full cost, not just the price. Compare a developer payment plan with mortgage options, including rates, repayment structure and total borrowing cost.
- Get your financing lined up early. A mortgage pre-approval makes it easier to move quickly on the right ready home.
- Buy for the long term. Affordability and how you will use the home should drive the decision, rather than short-term market momentum.
Weighing off-plan against ready, or a payment plan against a mortgage? Speak to a REimagine Property advisor and we will walk you through the options for your budget.
Source: figures cited by UAE mortgage platform Holo, as reported by Arabian Business, 11 November 2026.