Dubai Tenants Shift Homes as Summer Drives Demand for Lower Rent

Dubai tenants are increasingly moving to new homes as new leases offer rents up to 15.3% lower than January levels, while new contracts outnumber renewals in several major residential communities.

Dubai’s residential rental market is witnessing a shift as more tenants choose to move to new homes instead of renewing existing leases, with new contracts offering lower rents in several mid-market and prime communities. 

An analysis of Dubai Land Department tenancy registrations by fäm Properties found that new leases exceeded renewals by 633 contracts in July and by 2,139 contracts in August. This marked the first time new leases had outnumbered renewals in any month since the dataset began in January 2023. Renewals had remained higher for 36 consecutive months before the change.

Also Read: Farmland Communities: Redefining Sustainable Living

The movement has been driven largely by the widening difference between new and renewal rents. According to fam Properties, rents for new leases covering the same building and unit type were 15.3% lower in August than in January, while renewal rents had declined by around 1%.

Firas Al Msaddi, founder and CEO of fam Properties, attributed the change to tenants finding it financially worthwhile to relocate rather than remain in their existing properties. The trend has been particularly visible in mid-market and prime areas where tenants have greater opportunities to compare available properties.

Several major residential districts recorded more new leases than renewals in August. Al Barsha South Fourth, which includes Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), registered 1,102 more new leases than renewals. Business Bay recorded a difference of 609, followed by Al Merkadh with 598, Dubai Marina with 564 and Downtown Dubai with 342.

However, the trend has not been uniform across Dubai. In more affordable locations such as International City, Jebel Ali and Dubai Silicon Oasis, renewals continued to exceed new leases in August. This indicates that affordability remains an important factor in tenants’ decisions to relocate or remain in their existing homes.

Also Read: How MICE tourism is shaping the future of hotel industry

Overall leasing activity has remained relatively stable. New-lease registrations between January and August were 1% below the corresponding period in 2025, while renewals also declined by 1%. About 14,100 new leases were registered in July and approximately 15,600 in August, with both months exceeding their respective levels from a year earlier.

The median rent for new apartment leases stood at AED 94.6 per square foot in August, 8.3% below the October 2025 peak of AED 103.1 per square foot.