What buying and selling property in Dubai costs
Most cost surprises in a Dubai transaction are not the big number, they are the four smaller ones nobody mentioned. This page lists what each side actually pays, item by item, and names the official page each figure comes from — so a quote you have been given can be checked line against line rather than argued about.
3 answers, each with the official source it rests on · Last checked 20 October 2026
Which costs should I allow for when buying a completed property in Dubai?
Budget for registration, trustee and document charges, plus any agreed agency or financing costs. For a completed-property sale, DLD lists 2% of the sale value for the seller and 2% for the buyer: 4% combined. Check the payment allocation in your agreement. The trustee/service-partner fee is AED 4,000 plus VAT at a sale value of AED 500,000 or more, or AED 2,000 plus VAT below AED 500,000. DLD also lists AED 250 for the title certificate; map charges are AED 100 for land outside Dubai Municipality's jurisdiction, AED 225 for the unified municipality map, or AED 250 for an apartment or villa. Knowledge and innovation fees are AED 10 each on applicable items. Ask for an itemised transaction quotation. Agency commission follows the brokerage agreement. If borrowing, obtain the lender's charges and mortgage-registration costs separately. Off-plan purchases use a different registration route, so this is not a universal all-in quote.
Sources: Dubai Land Department — Property Sale Registration / تسجيل البيع; Dubai Land Department — Frequently Asked Questions / الأسئلة الأكثر تكراراً; Dubai Land Department — Title transfer application; Dubai Land Department — Registering the Sale of a Mortgaged Property; Government of Dubai — Supreme Legislation Committee — Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 regulating the Interim Property Register · Correct as of 20 October 2026 · Applies: Dubai
What selling a property costs
Selling costs far less than buying, and the most common mistake is assuming the large fees are the seller's. They are not. The Dubai Land Department's 4% registration fee and the trustee office's charge are both funded by the buyer under the settled convention in Dubai, and neither is a seller's cost unless the Form F says otherwise — so read it. What a seller actually pays is a short list. The developer charges for the No Objection Certificate, at an amount the developer sets with no central register to check it against; distress.ae typically sees somewhere between AED 500 and AED 5,000. Any outstanding service charges have to be cleared before a transfer can complete. Final utility bills need closing off too — DEWA for electricity and water, and the district cooling provider where the building has one, commonly Empower or Emicool. Agency commission is usually the buyer's, though a seller does sometimes agree to pay 2% under their own arrangement with their agent. If there is a mortgage on the property, the bank's early-settlement charge is capped by the UAE Central Bank at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower, before VAT.
Source: Dubai Land Department — Request for Transfer of Ownership · Correct as of 18 August 2026 · Applies: Dubai
What the agent's commission is, and who sets it
Agency commission in Dubai is a matter of contract, not a published rate. Brokers must be licensed and entered in the brokers register kept by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency under Bylaw No. (85) of 2006, and the sale is documented on RERA's standard contracts — Form A between seller and agent, Form B between buyer and agent, and Form F for the sale itself. What the commission is, and who pays it, is agreed in that paperwork. RERA's own Real Estate Brokerage Practice Guide sets out how brokers must operate and does not publish a commission rate or a cap, so treat any figure quoted to you as the market's habit rather than a regulated price, and get it in writing before you sign. One rule is statutory: where a broker markets an off-plan project, the sale proceeds must go into the project's escrow account, and the broker may not take their commission out of that money first.
“The Real estate Broker may not deposit the sale proceeds in his own account or deduct his commission from such proceeds before depositing it in the escrow account. Any agreement to the contrary of the provisions of this Article will be void.”
Source: Dubai Land Department — Real Estate Regulatory Agency — Real Estate Brokerage Practice Guide, Second Edition 2024 · Correct as of 1 November 2024 · Applies: Dubai
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