Highest Rental Yields in Dubai 2026 by Community
Updated September 5, 2026 · 10 min read · Sources: DLD registered transactions and Ejari contracts, trailing 12 months to 3 September 2026; DLD service charge index ranges as reported in 2026 market guides; typical Dubai management fees.
How the yields are computed
Gross rental yield is the annual rent divided by the price. The trap in every published Dubai yield is where the two numbers come from: an asking rent on a portal divided by a launch price gives a number nobody will ever receive. The yields here are the median Ejari contract rent registered in each community over the trailing 12 months to 3 September 2026, divided by the median registered sale price in the same community and the same window, from the Dubai Land Department’s data. Where the register has enough transactions the studio and one-bedroom cells are shown separately, because the overall median hides them. Two columns need explaining. “Ready yield” divides the same rent by the ready-only sale median, the price of completed units, which is the yield a buyer of a resale actually gets today; in launch-heavy communities it is much higher than the all-sales figure because launches are priced above existing stock. And “sales” is the number of registered apartment sales in the window, which is the depth of the market and a guide to how much weight the median can carry. Gross is the start, not the answer. The second half of this guide takes the same numbers to net.
The ranking: 21 communities by gross yield
| Rank | Community | Sale median | Rent median | Gross yield | Ready yield | Studio yield | 1-bed yield | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | International City | AED 475,000 | AED 38,000 | 8.0% | 9.1% | 8.5% | 8.1% | 1,883 |
| 2 | Dubai South | AED 958,000 | AED 66,500 | 6.9% | 8.9% | 6.6% | 5.0% | 14,564 |
| 3 | Arjan | AED 910,000 | AED 63,000 | 6.9% | 7.5% | 6.6% | 5.3% | 3,794 |
| 4 | Motor City | AED 1.14M | AED 77,500 | 6.8% | 7.8% | n/a | 4.8% | 4,001 |
| 5 | Jumeirah Village Circle | AED 1.02M | AED 66,000 | 6.5% | 6.9% | 6.8% | 6.0% | 12,627 |
| 6 | The Greens and The Views | AED 1.84M | AED 115,000 | 6.3% | 6.5% | 6.7% | 6.0% | 527 |
| 7 | Damac Hills 2 | AED 680,000 | AED 42,000 | 6.2% | 8.4% | 8.7% | 7.6% | 149 |
| 8 | Dubai Silicon Oasis | AED 949,000 | AED 55,000 | 5.8% | 7.7% | 6.1% | 5.6% | 2,388 |
| 9 | Dubai Sports City | AED 883,000 | AED 50,000 | 5.7% | 7.6% | 6.5% | 5.3% | 2,973 |
| 10 | Jumeirah Village Triangle | AED 1.15M | AED 63,000 | 5.5% | 6.9% | 5.8% | 5.2% | 4,600 |
| 11 | Al Jaddaf | AED 1.36M | AED 75,000 | 5.5% | 5.9% | 6.0% | 4.8% | 2,785 |
| 12 | Dubai Hills Estate | AED 2.03M | AED 110,000 | 5.4% | 6.1% | 7.4% | 5.6% | 2,533 |
| 13 | Mohammed Bin Rashid City | AED 1.38M | AED 75,000 | 5.4% | 5.9% | 6.9% | 6.0% | 2,615 |
| 14 | Town Square | AED 1.3M | AED 69,000 | 5.3% | 6.0% | 9.5% | 6.3% | 1,934 |
| 15 | Dubai Creek Harbour | AED 2.6M | AED 131,250 | 5.0% | 5.4% | n/a | 4.9% | 3,932 |
| 16 | Downtown Dubai | AED 2.9M | AED 145,000 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 3.6% | 4.9% | 2,595 |
| 17 | Business Bay | AED 2.0M | AED 95,000 | 4.8% | 6.3% | 5.9% | 4.1% | 7,219 |
| 18 | Damac Hills | AED 1.24M | AED 57,200 | 4.6% | 7.0% | 7.5% | 5.7% | 1,442 |
| 19 | Dubai Marina and JBR | AED 2.7M | AED 122,000 | 4.5% | 5.0% | 4.7% | 4.5% | 3,708 |
| 20 | Jumeirah Lake Towers | AED 2.01M | AED 87,000 | 4.3% | 6.4% | 6.7% | 4.2% | 2,887 |
| 21 | Al Furjan | AED 1.5M | AED 60,000 | 4.0% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 3.7% | 6,587 |
What the ranking says
Cheap yields more. The top of the table is the bottom of the price list: International City at AED 475,000, Damac Hills 2 at AED 680,000, Sports City at AED 883,000, Arjan at AED 910,000, Silicon Oasis at AED 949,000, Dubai South at AED 958,000. Rents do not fall as fast as prices as you move outwards, because a tenant on AED 40,000 a year has few alternatives and a buyer at AED 500,000 has many, so the ratio rises. International City’s 26,357 registered tenancies, the most of any community in Dubai, are the demand side of that arithmetic. Studios yield more than one-beds almost everywhere, by about a point: 8.5% against 8.1% in International City, 6.8% against 6.0% in JVC, 7.5% against 3.7% in Al Furjan, 7.4% against 5.6% in Dubai Hills. The studio tenant pays proportionally more per square foot and the studio buyer pays proportionally less. The costs of a studio are also the highest per dirham of rent (the tenant churn, the furnishing, the same fixed fees on a smaller income), which the net section below accounts for. Ready beats launch on yield in every community with a launch premium. Dubai South is the extreme: 6.9% on the all-sales median but 8.9% on the ready median of AED 750,000, because the AED 958,000 headline is off-plan pricing that has not yet met a tenant. Al Furjan is the same story, 4.0% overall and 7.5% on ready units at AED 800,000; JLT 4.3% against 6.4%; Business Bay 4.8% against 6.3%. An income investor in those communities buys the completed building, not the launch.
From gross to net: what actually lands
Four things come off a Dubai gross yield before it is yours. Service charges, which in 2026 market guides built on the DLD service charge index run about AED 10 to 13 per square foot a year in JVC, AED 18 to 28 in Dubai Marina and Business Bay, and AED 22 to 45 in Downtown and on the Palm, and which are yours whether or not the unit is let. Management, if you use an agent to find tenants and run the tenancy, at 5% to 8% of rent. Voids: a month between tenants every year or two, so budget one month in twelve. And maintenance, minor repairs and the Ejari and DEWA administration that the tenant does not carry. To turn the service charge into a share of price, divide the charge per square foot by the registered price per square foot: JVC at AED 10 to 13 on a registered AED 1,498 per square foot is 0.7% to 0.9% of the price a year; Dubai Marina at AED 18 to 28 on AED 2,366 is 0.8% to 1.2%; Downtown at AED 22 to 45 on AED 2,997 is 0.7% to 1.5%. Call it 0.8% for an affordable tower, 1.0% for mid-market and 1.2% for prime, and the net arithmetic is gross yield, less one month in twelve, less 7% management, less the service charge share.
| Community | Gross yield | After one void month | After 7% management | Service charge share (assumption) | Net yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International City | 8.0% | 7.3% | 6.8% | 0.8% | 6.0% |
| Dubai South (ready) | 8.9% | 8.1% | 7.6% | 0.8% | 6.8% |
| Arjan | 6.9% | 6.3% | 5.9% | 0.8% | 5.1% |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 6.5% | 5.9% | 5.5% | 0.8% | 4.7% |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 5.8% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 0.8% | 4.1% |
| Dubai Hills Estate | 5.4% | 5.0% | 4.6% | 1.0% | 3.6% |
| Business Bay | 4.8% | 4.4% | 4.1% | 1.0% | 3.1% |
| Downtown Dubai | 5.0% | 4.6% | 4.3% | 1.2% | 3.1% |
| Dubai Marina | 4.5% | 4.1% | 3.8% | 1.0% | 2.8% |
| Palm Jumeirah | 3.5% | 3.2% | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1.8% |
The spread between the top and the bottom of that table is the whole investment decision. A JVC unit at 4.7% net and a Marina unit at 2.8% net are separated by nearly two points a year, which on AED 1 million is AED 19,000 a year of cash, every year. The Marina buyer is paying that for liquidity, for a deeper resale market, and for the expectation that a prime asset holds its value better. Sometimes that is right. It is a choice to make with the number in front of you, not one to discover after the first service charge invoice. The rental yield calculator on this site runs this arithmetic on any price, rent and service charge you type in, and the service charges guide explains how to find the real figure for a specific building before you buy it.
Why cheap yields more, and what it costs in growth
A high yield is the market telling you it does not expect much else. International City’s 8% is the return on a community whose ready median of AED 420,000 is roughly what those units cost a decade ago; the income is real and the capital has not moved. Downtown’s 5% is the return on a community whose all-sales and ready medians are both AED 2.9 million, where buyers pay for the address and the exit. The register cannot say which will do better from here, but it can say what each is asking you to believe. There are practical costs to the high-yield end too. Tenant turnover is higher, arrears are more common, the buildings are older and the service charge as a share of a low rent is proportionally heavier. A landlord who buys a AED 475,000 studio for an 8% yield is running a small business with a tenant who may leave in a year; a landlord with a AED 2 million one-bed in the Hills is more often holding a three-year tenant who pays on the day. The rent index matters more at the cheap end as well: Dubai caps renewal increases against the RERA Smart Rental Index, so a unit let below the index climbs back in steps of 5% to 20% a year rather than at once, and a landlord who under-let in year one carries that for years. The balance most of our income clients land on is the middle of the table: JVC, Arjan, Silicon Oasis, Sports City and the ready end of Dubai South and Al Furjan, at 5% to 7% net-of-service-charge gross, where the tenant pool is deep, the buildings are new enough to be cheap to run, and the capital has a plausible reason to move. The very top of the table is for buyers who want the income and nothing else; the bottom is for buyers who want the address and will accept the income.
Related questions
What is the highest rental yield area in Dubai?
International City, at 8.0% gross on the DLD register for the 12 months to September 2026: a AED 475,000 apartment median against a AED 38,000 Ejari rent median. Its studios yield 8.5%. Dubai South ready units yield 8.9% on the AED 750,000 completed-unit median.
What is a good rental yield in Dubai?
Gross yields on the register run from 3.5% on Palm Jumeirah to 8% in International City. Mid-market communities like JVC, Arjan and Motor City return 6.5% to 6.9% gross, which is roughly 4.7% to 5.1% net after service charges, management and a void month.
What is the rental yield in JVC?
6.5% gross on the register: a AED 1.02 million apartment median against a AED 66,000 rent median, from 12,627 sales and 29,925 tenancy contracts. Studios yield 6.8% and one-beds 6.0%. After costs, about 4.7% net.
What is the rental yield in Dubai Marina?
4.5% gross on the all-sales median of AED 2.7 million against a rent median of AED 122,000, or 5.0% on the ready-unit median of AED 2.44 million. After a service charge of roughly 1% of price, 7% management and a void month, about 2.8% net.
Do studios or one-bedrooms yield more in Dubai?
Studios, by about a point in most communities: 6.8% against 6.0% in JVC, 8.5% against 8.1% in International City, 7.4% against 5.6% in Dubai Hills. Studios also carry higher turnover and proportionally heavier fixed costs.
How do I calculate net rental yield in Dubai?
Take the annual rent, deduct one month for voids, deduct 5% to 8% for management, deduct the building’s annual service charge (its rate per square foot from the DLD index times the unit’s area), and divide by the price plus purchase costs. The rental yield calculator on this site does it.
