Luxury home sales in Dubai fall from record levels as war drags on | Today’s news
Wealthy buyers from around the world continued to buy luxury homes in Dubai during the third quarter, according to researcher Knight Frank, even as sales volumes fell 17% from a year earlier as the war in Iran dragged on.
Dubai saw 86 sales of homes priced at $10 million or more during the quarter, according to Knight Frank. This compares with 103 sales in this price range during the same period last year. The sale of luxury properties in Dubai was a record in 2025.
Despite the drop, the figures illustrate the relative resilience of property demand in a city that faced a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones earlier this year. While most of the projectiles were intercepted, industries such as tourism, aviation and commerce came under pressure. House prices also fell slightly, with real estate firm JLL estimating that values fell by an average of 5%, with some major neighborhoods seeing larger declines.
Dubai saw 412 home transactions worth more than $10 million between January and September this year, not far from the record 500 sales for the whole of last year, according to a Knight Frank report.
“Despite the exceptional geopolitical backdrop across the region, Dubai’s luxury home market continued to record strong sales volumes during the third quarter, albeit lower than this time last year,” said Faisal Durrani, head of Middle East and North Africa research at Knight Frank. “The somewhat ‘stop-start’ nature of hostilities predictably dampens confidence,” Durrani said of the regional conflict.
The Iran war ended Dubai’s longest property boom, which began during the pandemic in 2020. Still, in September, most of the city’s expat residents returned from a summer break, helping to boost the market.
In the third quarter, 13 properties sold for at least $25 million, for a total value of about $500 million.
The man-made island of Palm Jumeirah and Emirates Hills accounted for most of the city’s revenue. Total sales of properties valued at $10 million or more reached roughly $6.7 billion in the first nine months. In the third quarter of 2024, there were 83 sales in this group.
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Falling prices in prime neighborhoods such as Palm Jumeirah, which Knight Frank estimates have fallen by 9% over the past 12 months, may have brought new buyers into the market.
“The island is increasingly offering ‘good value’ at AED 4,083 per square foot,” said Louis Harding, head of UAE residential at Knight Frank. “Buyer interest here continues to come largely from those looking for a permanent or holiday home, rather than buy-to-flip investors,” he said.
The slowdown comes on the heels of a record year in 2025. Overall prices in the city rose more than 70% after the pandemic, analysts estimate.
“The biggest drag on overall market activity right now is the ongoing regional conflict,” Durrani said.
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