The real cost of buying property in Dubai: every fee explained

Dubai is one of the few global cities where you can still buy freehold with no annual property tax and no capital gains tax. What buyers underestimate is the one-off transaction cost at handover.

Dubai Land Department transfer fee

The headline cost is the DLD transfer fee of 4% of the purchase price, plus a small administrative charge. On an AED 3,000,000 apartment that is AED 120,000. On off-plan purchases the same 4% applies, though many developers run campaigns where they absorb part or all of it.

Registration and trustee fees

Registration trustee offices charge roughly AED 2,000 for properties under AED 500,000 and AED 4,000 above that, plus VAT. Title deed issuance is a few hundred dirhams.

Agency commission

Brokerage commission in Dubai is conventionally 2% of the purchase price plus VAT on the resale market. On off-plan launches the developer pays the broker, so the buyer pays nothing — one reason well-advised investors use a broker on primary deals.

Developer NOC and service charges

For resale, the seller obtains a No Objection Certificate from the developer, typically AED 500 to AED 5,000. Service charges are then paid annually per square foot and vary hugely by building — from around AED 12/sqft in mid-market communities to well above AED 30/sqft in serviced towers on Palm Jumeirah.

Mortgage costs

If you finance, budget a bank arrangement fee of about 1% of the loan, a valuation fee of AED 2,500 to AED 3,500, and a mortgage registration fee of 0.25% of the loan amount paid to the DLD.

Rule of thumb

Set aside 6% to 8% of the purchase price on a cash resale deal, and 7% to 9% with a mortgage. On off-plan, your day-one outlay is usually the booking deposit plus DLD fee — often 14% to 24% of the price — with the rest spread over the construction plan.