Mortgages in the UAE: How Much You Can Borrow, What It Costs and How to Get Approved in 2026

The caps, and why every bank quotes the same ones

UAE mortgage lending sits inside ceilings set by the Central Bank, which is why the loan-to-value figures barely change from one bank to the next. For a UAE resident expatriate the first home under AED 5 million can be financed to 80% of its value, and above AED 5 million to 70%. UAE nationals get 85% and 75%. A second or subsequent property, whatever its price, is capped at 60% for expatriates and 65% for nationals. Anything still under construction is capped at 50% for everyone. The value the bank lends against is its own valuation, not the price you agreed. In a market where asking prices run ahead of registered sales that gap is real: if you pay AED 2.1 million for a unit the bank values at AED 2 million, the 80% is AED 1.6 million and the extra AED 100,000 is yours in cash. Check the registered sales in the building before you offer, because that is what the valuer will look at.

The three tests that size the loan

The loan-to-value cap is the first of three ceilings, and often not the binding one. The second is the income multiple: the total mortgage may not exceed 7 times your annual income, 8 times for UAE nationals. On a salary of AED 25,000 a month that is AED 2.1 million of borrowing, whatever the property costs. The third is the debt burden ratio: your total monthly commitments after the mortgage, including car loans, credit card minimums and any other borrowing, must stay under 50% of your monthly income, and the mortgage repayment is tested at a rate two percentage points above the one you are offered. On a 4% offer the bank stresses you at 6%. The loan you get is the smallest of the three. In practice the debt burden test bites first for anyone with a car loan and a couple of cards, which is why clearing small borrowing before applying can add hundreds of thousands to what a bank will lend. The mortgage tool on this site runs all three from your numbers. Term and age close the frame. The maximum term is 25 years, and the loan must be repaid by 65 for salaried borrowers or 70 for the self-employed, so a 45-year-old salaried buyer is looking at a 20-year term and a higher monthly figure than the 25-year headline.

Rates in 2026: fixed, variable and what the headline hides

UAE mortgage rates price off EIBOR, the interbank rate, and in mid-2026 three-month EIBOR sits around 3.7% to 3.8%. Resident fixed rates start near 3.8% to 4.0% for a one to three year fix, with launch offers on specific products lower still: ADCB’s off-plan product opened at 3.49% fixed for three years. Variable rates run at EIBOR plus a margin of roughly 1.3 to 2 points. The mortgage tool on this site defaults to 4.5% as a middle-of-the-market figure you can move. The headline is the least important number on the rate card. Ask what the rate reverts to when the fixed period ends, because a 3.9% three-year fix that reverts to EIBOR plus 2.5 is a different loan from one that reverts to EIBOR plus 1.5. Ask what the early settlement charge is: the Central Bank caps it at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower, but banks can and do charge up to that. And ask whether the rate is conditional on a salary transfer or a life insurance policy bought from the bank, both of which have a cost. Fixed or variable comes down to how long you will hold the loan. A buyer who expects to sell or refinance in three years wants a three-year fix and a cheap exit. A buyer settling in for a decade wants to compare the fixed period’s cost against the risk of EIBOR moving. Islamic products (Murabaha and Ijara) follow the same caps and are priced comparably; the difference is structure, not cost.

What a mortgage costs beyond the rate

A worked example: AED 2 million in Dubai

Take a first home at AED 2 million, a resident expatriate buyer, a 25-year term at 4.5%. The deposit is 20%, AED 400,000, and the loan AED 1.6 million. The monthly repayment is about AED 8,900. To pass the debt burden test at the stressed rate of 6.5% the bank is looking at a repayment of roughly AED 10,800, so a buyer with no other borrowing needs a gross income of about AED 21,600 a month, and the 7 times income test needs about AED 19,000 a month; the debt burden test binds. The cash on the day: the AED 400,000 deposit, AED 80,000 DLD fee, AED 580 admin, AED 4,200 trustee, AED 42,000 agency commission with VAT, AED 4,290 mortgage registration and around AED 3,150 valuation. Call it AED 535,000, or a little under 27% of the price. That, not the 20% deposit, is the number to have in the account before you make an offer. The mortgage tool on this site produces the same worked example on any price and either emirate.

The approval process, step by step

Step 1: pre-approval, before you view

A pre-approval is the bank’s written statement of what it will lend you, based on your income and commitments, before you have chosen a property. It costs nothing at most banks, takes three to five working days, and holds for 60 to 90 days (longer on some off-plan products). Get it first: it tells you the real budget, it makes your offer credible to a seller, and it flags any problem with your file while there is time to fix it.

Step 2: the documents

The set is consistent across banks: passport and Emirates ID, a salary certificate addressed to the bank, six months of bank statements showing the salary landing, and details of every existing loan and card. Self-employed borrowers replace the salary certificate with trade licence, two years of audited accounts and company bank statements, and face closer scrutiny. Undisclosed borrowing surfaces in the credit bureau check and undermines the whole application, so declare it.

Step 3: valuation and final offer

Once you have a signed Form F on a property, the bank instructs a valuation, then issues a final offer letter with the exact loan, rate, term and conditions. Read the reversion rate and the settlement charge here; this is the last easy moment to walk away. Two to three weeks from Form F is typical.

Step 4: transfer

At the trustee office the bank’s cheque for the loan and yours for the balance are handed over, the mortgage is registered against the title at the same sitting, and the deed is issued in your name with the bank’s charge noted. If the seller has a mortgage, their bank is settled first from the same cheques. Mortgage on either side adds two to four weeks to a cash timeline, so 45 to 60 days from Form F to keys is normal.

Off-plan, non-residents and the special cases

Two situations have their own rules and their own guides on this site. A property still under construction is capped at 50% loan-to-value, and until recently most banks would not lend until handover; since 2026 a buyer who has paid half can, on approved projects, have a bank take over the remaining instalments before completion. The off-plan mortgage guide and the eligibility checker cover it. A buyer without UAE residency is not a separate category in the regulations but is limited by bank policy to 50% to 60% on ready property at most lenders, with a shorter list of banks and a rate premium; the non-resident mortgage guide covers that. We arrange resident mortgages across every UAE bank at no fee to the borrower, which means the advice is about which bank fits your income and your property this month rather than which bank pays us. Run the tool, then send us the result.