Renting or buying: the cheaper one depends on how long you stay. Rent vs buy in Dubai (UAE): compare the true cost of renting and buying over the years you'd stay, with buying and selling costs, interest, upkeep and price growth. See when buying starts to win.
Costs on top of the price
AED 65,070
Any buyer ·
What do you want to work out?
Whether renting or buying works out cheaper over the years you'd stay.
Over 7 years, buying works out cheaper by about
Rent paid
AED 747,550True cost of buying
AED 342,804Home worth in 7 years
AED 1,844,811Interest paid
AED 324,835Buying and selling costs
AED 108,811Yours after selling
AED 876,497True cost of buying = buying costs, interest, upkeep and selling costs, plus what your AED 440,070 deposit and costs could have earned as savings, minus the rise in the home's value. Mortgage repayments that pay off the loan aren't a cost: they come back to you when you sell. Assumes prices rise 3.0% and rents 3.0% a year; change these under "Rates, price growth and upkeep".
An illustration, not financial advice. Prices can fall as well as rise, and rates, rents and taxes change.
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Questions
It depends mostly on how long you stay. With our starting figures for a AED 1,500,000 home, buying works out cheaper over 7 years. Buying and selling costs are paid once, so the longer you stay, the more buying tends to win. Change the rent, years and growth above to test your own case.
Any buyer: DLD fees come to about AED 60,000. All buying costs together come to about AED 65,070, or 4.3% of the price. Change the price or buyer type above to see your own figure.
No. Foreign buyers pay the same purchase taxes as local buyers in Dubai (UAE). Some rules on who can buy, or which rate applies, can still depend on where you live.
Foreigners can buy freehold homes in designated areas, which covers most of Dubai's main districts.
A passport and Emirates ID if you live there. A registered trustee office for the transfer.
We last updated the figures on 16 Oct 2026 and checked them against official sources on 16 Oct 2026. We check every country every week, and show a warning if a check is overdue.
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