01 – Launch Activity

Launch activity by month, January through June 2026

Launch activity was concentrated at the start of the year, with 41 projects launched in both January and February. The monthly
count declined to 10 projects in April before increasing to 17 in June, remaining below January and February levels.

January’s launched-unit total was heavily influenced by Mercedes-Benz Places, which accounted for 12,814 units, or 58.9% of the month’s total. Excluding this project, January recorded 8,957 launched units, 27.1% fewer than February, indicating that the headline total overstated the breadth of launch activity during the month.

02 – Pricing

Launch Activity Was Concentrated in the Mid-Market and Upper-Mid Segments.

The Upper-Mid segment accounted for 26,592 units, representing 52.6% of all units launched, followed by the Mid-Market segment with 20,620 units and a 40.5% share. Together, these segments represented 47,212 units, or 92.7% of all units launched during H1 2026.

MARKET SEGMENT THRESHOLDS (AED PER SQ. FT.)

Mid-Market and Upper-Mid projects represented 87.2% of project launches. Luxury and Ultra-Luxury projects accounted for 9.2%, indicating that relatively few projects were launched within the highest price brackets.

Average launch prices peaked at AED 2,173 per sq.ft in February and declined to AED 1,688 in May. The average increased to AED 1,874 in June but remained 5.9% below January. This movement reflects changes in the mix of projects launched during the period.

Average launch prices remained broadly stable across the 2026 and 2027 delivery cohorts at AED 1,692 and AED 1,671 per sq. ft., before rising to AED 1,878 in 2028, AED 2,233 in 2029 and AED 2,268 in 2030. The increase across later cohorts indicates a growing concentration of higher priced projects in the longer term pipeline.

03 – Geography

Launch supply was concentrated in five locations, with Meydan dominating unit volume

The five locations shown accounted for 38 of 141 project launches and 22,903 of 50,935 launched units, representing 45.0% of all units launched in H1 2026. Meydan led with 13,231 units across five project launches, followed by JVC with 2,753 units across eight launches, Majan with 2,564 units across five launches, Dubailand Residence Complex with 2,458 units across eight launches, and Dubai Islands with 1,897 units across 12 launches.

Projects priced between AED 1,200 and AED 3,000 per sq.ft accounted for 94.7% of the launched units across these five locations.
Meydan included 13,209 Upper-Mid units and 22 Mid-Market units, while Dubai Islands included 1,208 Luxury units priced between AED 3,000 and AED 6,000 per sq.ft.

04 – Announced Delivery Pipeline

The H1 Launch Pipeline Is Concentrated in the 2028 and 2029 Announced Delivery Cohorts

The 2028 and 2029 announced delivery cohorts comprise 89 of 141 project launches and 36,103 of 50,935 units, representing 63.1% of launches and 70.9% of announced units. The 2028 cohort includes 45 projects and 22,607 announced units, while the 2029 cohort includes 44 projects and 13,496 announced units. This indicates a larger average project size among projects with announced delivery in 2028.

05 – Payment Plans

Post-Handover Payment Plan Adoption Increased During the Latter Part of H1

The share of project launches offering a post-handover payment option increased from 9.8% in January to 35.3% in June, reaching 35.7% in May. Across H1 2026, 27 of 141 project launches included post-handover payment terms. All 27 projects were launched at prices below AED 2,200 per sq.ft.

06 – Analytical Signals

Four Observed Relationships in the H1 2026 Launch Dataset

The following cross-variable observations describe relationships within the H1 launch records. They do not establish causation or represent market forecasts.

07 – Project Reference

Top 15 projects by unit count

The fifteen largest projects by unit count account for 27,315 units, representing 53.6% of the total 50,935 units launched in H1 2026. Mercedes-Benz Places was the largest single project in the cohort and materially influenced the H1 unit distribution.

Scope, Definitions and Methodology

Scope

This report covers residential project launches recorded across Dubai from January to June 2026. Project counts, unit counts, launch pricing, announced handover timelines, payment plans and broker commission terms reflect launch-stage records and should be read alongside subsequent registrations, developer updates and delivery progress. All handover dates reflect announced schedules at time of launch

Pricing Methodology

Average launch price is calculated as a simple project-level average across all 141 launches, with one observation per project and no weighting by unit count or saleable area. All launches had sufficient pricing information for classification. Mercedes-Benz Places accounted for 12,814 units, representing 25.2% of H1 launched units. Consequently, a unit-weighted average would differ materially from the simple average. Both the average and median are presented to provide a fuller view of the pricing distribution.

Market Segment Thresholds

Projects are classified using launch prices per sq.ft. Affordable covers prices below AED 1,200, Mid-Market covers prices from AED 1,200 to below AED 1,800, Upper-Mid covers prices from AED 1,800 to below AED 3,000, Luxury covers prices from AED 3,000 to below AED 6,000, and Ultra-Luxury covers prices of AED 6,000 and above. Each range includes its lower bound and excludes its upper bound, except Ultra-Luxury, which has no upper limit. Projects with multiple unit types are classified using the project-level launch price. All 141 launches had sufficient pricing information and were included in the analysis.

Payment Plans and Commission

A post-handover payment plan is defined as any structure where a portion of the purchase price is payable after the announced handover date. Downpayment level reflects the advertised percentage required at booking. Where a project offers more than one payment structure, the primary structure advertised at launch is used. Broker commission reflects the standard advertised rate at the time of launch. Projects with tiered or variable commission structures are recorded at the base rate.