For most of the last cycle, Dubai's office towers were owned whole: by institutions, by funds, or by the companies inside them. A private investor who wanted commercial income in Dubai had few ways in.
That has changed. Developers now sell Grade A towers floor by floor and office by office, and in the first half of 2026 buyers spent more on Dubai offices than in the whole of the year before. In London, New York and Singapore, offices have long sat in private portfolios next to homes. Dubai is only now catching up.
This article sets out why, from registered sales, leasing data and the published research of the major agencies: what the market did, why demand holds, where the capital is concentrating, what the newest towers offer, what registered rents show, and how an office can be bought and exited. Every figure is sourced at the foot of the page.
| Measure | Figure | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office sales, value | AED 15.8bn | H1 2026 | REIDIN; Cavendish Maxwell |
| Office sales, transactions | 2,571, +38% YoY | H1 2026 | Cavendish Maxwell, Property Monitor |
| Off-plan office sales | AED 13.1bn, 1,668 units | H1 2026 | Al Masdar Al Aqaari, DLD data |
| Business Bay off-plan office sales | AED 6.8bn, 476 sales | H1 2026 | Al Masdar Al Aqaari, DLD data |
| Citywide office vacancy | 6.1%, from 7.7% | Q2 2026 | JLL |
| Grade A office vacancy | 4.2% | Q2 2026 | JLL |
| Grade A rents, year on year | +26.2% | Q2 2026 | JLL |
| Grade B rents, year on year | +31.5% | Q2 2026 | JLL |
| Average office rent | AED 238 per sq ft a year | Q2 2026 | Savills |
| Office leases registered | about 38,100, +4% QoQ | Q2 2026 | Savills, DLD |
| New Dubai Chamber members | 71,830 | 2025 | Dubai Chamber of Commerce |
| DIFC active companies | 10,018 | H1 2026 | DIFC |
| Office supply due | about 19m sq ft | H2 2026 to 2030 | Cushman & Wakefield |
ICapital has found the office market
Dubai sold AED 15.8 billion of office space in the first half of 2026. That is three times the first half of 2025 and more than the AED 13.2 billion sold across the whole of 2025. Transactions rose 38 percent, to 2,571. REIDIN's own count agrees: 2,572 office sales worth AED 15.81 billion.
Off-plan carried it. Off-plan offices took AED 13.1 billion, 83 percent of the value. Ready office sales fell 35 percent by value and 43 percent by number against the first half of 2025. The capital is going into new Grade A towers, not into the buildings that already stand.
It is concentrated. Five developments took 71.7 percent of the value of off-plan office sales in the half. A market led by a handful of launches can cool as quickly as it warmed. That is why the building matters more than the district average, and why every section that follows comes back to it.
Office sales tripled in the same six months that Dubai's overall property sales eased about 12 percent from their record.
If demand for Dubai itself were weakening, both lines would have fallen together. They did not, which points to capital choosing between asset classes, not leaving the city.
IIMore companies than quality space
Every company that opens in Dubai needs a licensed address. Dubai Chamber added 71,830 new members in 2025, taking active membership to 292,486, up 13 percent in a year. DIFC passed 10,000 active companies in the first half of 2026, with 2,318 new registrations in twelve months, and its innovation hub reached 1,933 AI, FinTech and innovation firms, up 39 percent.
What the rents say. When rents in the tier below prime rise faster than prime, occupiers priced out of the best buildings are competing for the next ones. That is depth of demand, not a shortage at the very top. JLL puts Grade A vacancy at 4.2 percent and prime availability at 0.7 percent.
The average is a different story. Savills held Dubai's average office rent at AED 238 per sq ft in Q2, the first quarter without growth since the first half of 2021, and reads it as stabilisation rather than correction. We read it as a reason to buy on today's rent, not on the assumption that the last two years repeat.
Supply is coming, but slowly and spread across the city. Cushman & Wakefield counts about 19 million sq ft due between the second half of 2026 and 2030, against a stock of about 111 million. JLL expects under one million sq ft in the second half of 2026 itself.
| Area | Million sq ft |
|---|---|
| DIFC | 3.92 |
| Sheikh Zayed Road | 2.31 |
| Expo City | 2.00 |
| Jumeirah Lake Towers | 1.85 |
| Business Bay | 1.82 |
| Majan | 0.97 |
| Dubai Design District | 0.63 |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 0.50 |
| Others | 1.73 |
Measured through the conflict next door. JLL's Q2 figures cover the first full quarter after the conflict began. Vacancy fell, registrations rose and rents climbed. Dubai's population reached 4.74 million by July. Savills expects occupier requirements deferred during the quarter to return in the second half.
IIIBusiness Bay: where the capital concentrates
Business Bay sits beside Downtown Dubai, on Sheikh Zayed Road and the Metro, in a freehold area open to foreign buyers. It has become the centre of Dubai's office market: AED 6.8 billion of the AED 13.1 billion of off-plan office sales in the first half of 2026 were here, across 476 transactions. It holds about 12 percent of the city's office pipeline to 2029, 1.82 million of 15.7 million sq ft.
| Building | Weighted average | Highest recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Lumena and Lumena Alta | 6,261 | 7,063 |
| Enara | 5,815 | 7,648 |
| The Opus | 5,243 | 9,531 |
| HQ by Rove | 4,890 | 5,572 |
| Burj Capital | 3,830 | 5,383 |
| Vision Tower | 3,772 | 5,607 |
| The Binary Tower | 3,374 | 5,556 |
| Sol Bay | 2,956 | 5,150 |
| Bay Square, Building 2 | 2,660 | 4,797 |
| Building | AED per sq ft a year |
|---|---|
| The Opus | 369 |
| Anantara Downtown | 239 |
| Ubora Towers | 229 |
| The Binary Tower | 210 |
| Bay Square | 208 |
| Business Bay, all offices (4.27m sq ft leased) | 164 |
The spread is the lesson. The most sought-after building in Business Bay rents for more than twice the district average, and prices follow the same pattern, from under AED 3,000 per sq ft in older stock to over AED 6,000 in the newest towers.
In offices, value follows the building, not the postcode.
IVWhat tenants now pay for
The offices that command the highest rents are no longer defined by an address and a floor plate alone. The companies paying those rents choose buildings that help them hire and keep people. CBRE sorts what they look for into six things, built on the traditional Grade A base of address, floor plates, transport and building systems.
- Arrival like a hotel: a choreographed drop-off, concierge and valet, and lounges where a reception counter used to be.
- Space no tenant could justify alone: boardrooms, client suites, event and presentation space, shared across the building.
- Health and wellness: gyms, studios, terraces, natural light and clean air, now expected rather than offered.
- Smart building technology: destination-controlled lifts, smart access at the gates and automated parking.
- A destination, not a desk: dining, retail and social space inside the building, so the office competes with the café.
- Room to grow: co-working and managed space beside the leased floors, so a tenant can expand without moving.
This is what the rent premium pays for. As 19 million sq ft of new space arrives by 2030, the buildings that offer all six are the ones most likely to keep their tenants and their rents.
VTwo towers that set the standard
Two towers on Sheikh Zayed Road show what Business Bay's next generation of offices looks like. Both are sold office by office to private buyers. One is already trading; the other is at release.
| Berkeley Tower | Lumena | |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Ellington Properties | OMNIYAT |
| Location | Sheikh Zayed Road, beside Business Bay Metro | Sheikh Zayed Road, linked to Business Bay Metro |
| Building | Ground plus 60 floors, 3.8 to 4.1 m floor to ceiling | 260 m, with sky terraces and a dining podium |
| Offices | 109, from about 1,100 sq ft to triplex floors of about 22,000 sq ft | 99 over 561,100 sq ft: 81 offices and 18 half floors |
| Amenity | Four amenity floors: co-working, clubhouse, terraces, fitness and studio space | Sky pool and wellness suite, business club, co-working, sky theatre |
| Technology | 12 double-deck lifts, smart access, robotic parking, air-taxi ready | Double-deck lifts, smart building systems, 1,000+ parking spaces |
| Standard | Designed to Al Sa'fat green building standards | Targeting LEED, WELL, WiredScore and SmartScore Platinum |
| Service charge | AED 24 per sq ft a year, anticipated | Not published in the brochure |
| Payment plan | 70/30: 20% on booking, 20% in year one, 30% in build, 30% on completion | Not published in the brochure |
| Price | Set by Ellington at release | Launched Q3 2025 at AED 4,500 to 5,000 per sq ft; AED 6,261 average in 2026 with Lumena Alta |
Hotel-grade arrival, amenity floors, terraces and technology are now the baseline for a new Business Bay tower. What differs is the stage. Lumena trades about 31 percent above its launch range, before handover; Berkeley Tower is where Lumena was a year ago. That is a comparison of stage, not a forecast of price.
VIThe evidence: what The Opus has registered
Averages show the direction. Registered transactions show what owners paid and what tenants signed. The Opus, the Business Bay tower designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is the clearest example we hold: six offices, each with a sales history and a registered lease.
| Office | Sq ft | First registered | Latest sale | Rent a year | Yield on first | Yield on latest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A505 | 2,846 | Jun 2009, AED 4.27m | May 2023, AED 9.80m | AED 1.70m | 39.8% | 17.4% |
| C1002 | 3,020 | Dec 2020, AED 4.01m | Feb 2025, AED 18.48m | AED 1.68m | 41.8% | 9.1% |
| C1103 | 2,518 | May 2021, AED 3.68m | May 2025, AED 24.00m | AED 1.53m | 41.6% | 6.4% |
| C1203 | 2,569 | Jul 2017, AED 4.75m | Jan 2025, AED 8.00m | AED 2.00m | 42.1% | 25.0% |
| A1501 | 2,928 | Jun 2009, AED 4.91m | Jan 2025, AED 15.55m | AED 1.75m | 35.7% | 11.3% |
| B1503 | 3,030 | Jun 2009, AED 7.32m | Apr 2025, AED 16.00m | AED 1.39m | 19.0% | 8.7% |
Registered rents of AED 460 to 779 per sq ft a year, 2.8 to 4.7 times the Business Bay average. Yields of 6.4 to 25.0 percent on the latest price, with a median of about 10 percent; even the buyer who paid AED 24 million, the highest price in the set, earns 6.4 percent gross. The earliest owners now earn 19 to 42 percent a year on what they paid.
What this does and does not show. Six offices are not a market. They were chosen because each has a full history and a lease on the register, and The Opus rents at the top of Business Bay. Three were first registered off-plan in 2009, and the earliest title deed in the set is dated December 2020: the early returns came with a long wait. The one-year lease on C1203 ended in June 2026.
VIIThree ways out of an office
A good asset can be left by more than one door. An office in a Grade A tower supports three, and it should be chosen for the exit you intend, not the other way round. This section is judgement, and is marked as such.
Resale on or before handover
Enter at launch pricing and sell into a completed, leased-up tower. Ellington benchmarked five Business Bay office launches, and by the first half of 2026 all five traded above launch: Lumena by about 31 percent, Enara 29, Burj Capital 23, HQ by Rove 17 and Lumena Alta 6. That is history, not a forecast. Developers set a minimum share of the price that must be paid before an office can be resold, so check it before you buy.
Long-term lease
Multi-year leases with licensed, regulated companies: the six Opus leases run from 12 to 40 months. Ellington reports leases on its own retail units at 13 to 31 percent a year of their original purchase prices. The income depends on the rent the building can command.
Occupy, or occupy and lease
At the Dubai average of AED 238 per sq ft, a 2,000 sq ft office costs AED 476,000 a year in rent. Buying it at the off-plan average costs about AED 8.7 million, so the rent is 5.5 percent of the price every year, with nothing owned at the end. A business or family office can own its space, control the fit-out and lease out part of it.
| Rent achieved, AED per sq ft a year | Ready office, Business Bay (AED 2,517) | Off-plan office, Dubai average (AED 4,349) |
|---|---|---|
| Business Bay average, AED 164 | 6.5% | 3.8% |
| Dubai average, AED 238 | 9.5% | 5.5% |
| The Opus average, AED 369 | 14.7% | 8.5% |
Ready offices earn more today at average rents. A new Grade A office needs Grade A rent for the income to work, and The Opus shows that rent exists. That is the crux: buy the building tenants will compete for.
VIIIWhat an office costs, and what to check
Offices are bought by the square foot, so the size you choose sets the entry point. Part-floor offices from around 1,000 sq ft put a Grade A address within reach of a private investor.
| Size | Ready, Business Bay (AED 2,517) | Off-plan, Dubai (AED 4,349) | Grade A, Business Bay (AED 6,261) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | AED 2.52m ($0.69m) | AED 4.35m ($1.18m) | AED 6.26m ($1.70m) |
| 2,500 sq ft | AED 6.29m ($1.71m) | AED 10.87m ($2.96m) | AED 15.65m ($4.26m) |
| 5,000 sq ft | AED 12.59m ($3.43m) | AED 21.75m ($5.92m) | AED 31.30m ($8.52m) |
| 10,000 sq ft | AED 25.17m ($6.85m) | AED 43.49m ($11.84m) | AED 62.61m ($17.05m) |
- The rent, not the trend. Underwrite the rent that building commands today. Savills' citywide average stopped rising in Q2, and an office bought on 26 percent rental growth is bought on a number that may not repeat.
- The building. Grade A keeps a tenant: efficient floor plates, ceiling height, parking, lifts, wellbeing space and an address occupiers want. With 19 million sq ft due by 2030, weaker buildings will compete on price.
- Who else owns the tower. Five developments took 71.7 percent of H1 off-plan office value. If most of a tower is held by investors planning to sell at handover, they will all be selling at once.
- Liquidity. Ready office sales fell 35 percent by value in H1 2026. Offices take longer to sell than apartments, so plan the hold before you plan the exit.
- Tax and running costs. Commercial property carries 5 percent VAT on the price and on the rent, and a landlord whose taxable rent passes AED 375,000 a year must register for VAT. Add service charges and the fit-out period between tenants. Take tax advice before you commit.
- Resale terms. The share of the price paid before resale is allowed, and the developer's transfer fee, decide how flexible the first exit really is.
IXHow we are advising
Every company needs an office, and every leased office needs a landlord. In Dubai, private investors can now be that landlord.
The sales record is not what makes us take this seriously. The registered rents are. In The Opus, companies have signed multi-year leases at roughly three to almost five times the Business Bay average. That is what a building tenants compete for looks like, and it is the test we apply to every office we put in front of a client.
We would not buy on the assumption that rents keep rising at the pace of the last two years. The citywide average has already levelled. The case we make is narrower: the right building, in the right district, at a price the rent can support today.
Berkeley Tower is Ellington's first office tower, on Sheikh Zayed Road in Business Bay. If it is on your list, we will send the floor plans, the payment plan and our read of which floors suit which goal. A message is enough. It commits you to nothing.
This analysis is also available as an 11-page report in our house format, with the full tables and the six Opus records. Email me the report as a PDF.