By Ansh Virmani, CEOBuying guideThe purchase price is never the whole bill. In Dubai the additional costs are transparent and mostly fixed by regulation, which makes them easy to budget for, provided you know what they are before you sign. Here is the full list, with the sources.
The largest single cost is the Dubai Land Department (DLD) registration fee of 4% of the purchase price. It was raised from 2% to 4% in 2013, as Gulf News reported at the time, and it applies to apartments, villas, townhouses and land alike. Formally the fee is split between buyer and seller, but as Gulf News notes in its explainer on the process of buying property in Dubai, in most transactions the seller insists the buyer pays the full 4%. Budget for all of it.
Buying in the next 12 months? Send a two-line brief and we will send back three underwritten units for this exact question.
Send your briefThe transfer is completed at a DLD-approved registration trustee office. The trustee fee is AED 4,000 where the property value is AED 500,000 or above, and AED 2,000 below that, plus 5% VAT. There is also a small admin charge per transaction and a fee for the title deed itself.
On a ready (secondary market) purchase the customary brokerage commission is 2% of the price plus VAT. On off-plan purchases direct from a developer the developer pays the broker, so there is usually nothing extra for the buyer. This is one reason we tell clients that using a broker on an off-plan deal costs them nothing and gives them an advocate in the room.
If you borrow, add the bank's arrangement fee, a property valuation fee, and the DLD mortgage registration fee of 0.25% of the loan amount. A cash buyer skips all three.
On off-plan the 4% DLD fee is paid at Oqood registration, the DLD's interim register for sale contracts, plus a developer administration fee that typically runs from AED 1,000 to 5,000. Every owner then pays annual service charges, set per square foot and approved by RERA for each building or community and collected through the Mollak system. Service charges are the cost most first-time buyers under-estimate, which is why every unit we shortlist carries the current rate in its memo.
| Item | Basis | AED 2,000,000 ready apartment, cash |
|---|---|---|
| DLD transfer fee | 4% of price | 80,000 |
| Trustee fee | Fixed, above AED 500k, plus VAT | 4,200 |
| Agency commission | 2% plus 5% VAT | 42,000 |
| Title deed and admin | Fixed | Under 1,000 |
| Total on top of price | About AED 127,000, roughly 6.3% |
Gulf News reaches a similar conclusion in its coverage of buying costs: total acquisition costs typically climb to around 6% of the purchase price for a cash buyer of ready property. On off-plan, with no commission payable by the buyer, the figure is closer to 4% plus the developer's administration fee.
There is no UAE property tax, no UAE capital gains tax on sale and no UAE personal income tax on rent. Two things sit outside that: if you are tax resident elsewhere, for example in the UK or India, your home country may tax UAE rent and gains, and if you hold the property through a company, UAE corporate tax can apply to the income. Both are questions we raise at the brief stage, not after completion.
Want the exact number for a specific unit, including its current service charge? Send us the listing or your brief and we will return a one-page cost memo.
Formally it is shared, but in practice the buyer pays the full 4% in almost every Dubai transaction. Budget for all of it unless your contract says otherwise.
Not by you. The developer pays the broker on direct off-plan sales, so using a broker on a launch costs the buyer nothing and adds an advocate.
No annual property tax, no capital gains tax and no tax on rental income. Your ongoing costs are the service charge and, if applicable, the mortgage.
CEO of TVG Realtors and The Virmani Group. Boston University mathematics and economics graduate, licensed Dubai broker and Country Director of BRICS CCI UAE. He publishes weekly at virmaniviews.com.
TVG Realtors is an independent brokerage. Market figures are quoted from the named third-party sources as published on the dates cited and may have been revised since. Nothing here is investment, legal or tax advice.
Tell us your budget, purpose and timeline. A licensed broker replies within one working day. First shortlist, with a memo per unit, typically within 48 to 72 hours of your brief call.
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