Rent vs Mortgage Calculator
Pick your community and see whether buying or renting leaves you wealthier after 5, 10 and 20 years. Registered DLD sale and rent medians, every ownership cost counted, and the renter's side invests every dirham a buyer would have spent. No asking prices, no thumb on the scale.
The home in question
Pick a community and the verdicts appear instantly, computed from registered sale AND rent medians, never asking prices.
How the verdict is computed
Both households spend identical cash every year. The buyer pays the deposit, DLD transfer fee, agency, trustee and mortgage costs up front, then instalments, service charges, maintenance, the housing fee and life insurance. The renter pays rent plus the 5% housing fee, and invests the difference, starting with the buyer's entire cash to close, at the return you choose. At every horizon the owner is marked to a real sale: property value minus the remaining loan balance and 2.1% selling costs. Whoever holds more net worth wins that horizon.
Where a judgment call exists, the constants lean against buying on purpose. A buy verdict from a brokerage has to be robust, so when this page says buy, the maths survived the scepticism. The full formula, a worked example and a shortcut you can do on a napkin are in the guide: Rent vs buy in Dubai, the honest calculation.
Prices and rents are registered-transaction medians for your chosen community and layout (Aug 2026 refresh). Median means the typical registered deal, so a specific unit, a view premium or a below-market rent will move your own answer; the sliders let you test it.
