Dubai launches scheme to help first-time investors buy properties valued up to Dh5m

Dubai is launching a scheme to support first-time investors to enter the emirate's property market by teaming up with developers and banks.

The first-time home buyers initiative, launched amid a real estate boom in the city, will extend to properties valued at a maximum of Dh5 million ($1.36 million), the Dubai Land Department said on Wednesday.

There is no salary criteria and it is left to banks to decide on financing, officials said.

ExplainedDubai's first-time buyer scheme to benefit existing residents

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The DLD is working with 13 developers: Emaar, Nakheel, Azizi, Wasl, Dubai Properties, Damac, Danube, Binghatti, Meraas, Ellington Properties, Beyond Developments, Majid Al Futtaim and Palma Development. It has also linked up with five banks – Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic, Mashreq Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai – for the initiative.

People aged 18 and older, with an Emirates ID and no freehold home, are eligible to participate in the initiative, Khalid al Shibani, Director of the Rental Affairs Department at Dubai Land Department, told the media.

“Buyers will have the priority access to the new homes listed and there will be a flexible payment plan,” Mr Al Shibani, said. DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards with zero interest rates.

There will be “good financing offers through banks, with preferential prices. You will have additional benefits like discounts from developers”, he said.

The scheme aims to attract more investors to the emirate’s booming property sector, including residents and locals, officials said.

People intending to apply to the scheme should register with the DLD website or Dubai Rest app to start the process.

DLD expects 5,000 new investors to enter the market this year following the initiative.

“It will have a positive impact on property market,” Mr Al Shibani said.

However, once you purchase a property, you will lose your first-time home buyer status and cannot participate in the programme again even if you sell your property, according to the Dubai REST app.

Meanwhile, developers expect property demand to rise in the emirate as a result of the new initiative.

It will provide an “opportunity to people who are just thinking but not able to buy,” Ghayyour Ahmad Khan, director of projects and development at Danube Properties, said. “It will be good for the market and for the new customers.”

Dubai’s property market continues to perform strongly amid government initiatives such as residency permits for retired people and remote workers, as well as the expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme and overall growth in the UAE’s economy amid diversification efforts.

The emirate recorded property deals worth Dh761 billion last year, up 20 per cent compared to 2023, with the total number of transactions for the year increasing by 36 per cent to 226,000, data provided by the Dubai Media Office shows.

“Our target is to reach Dh 1 trillion in transactions by 2033 from about Dh760 billion achieved last year,” said Majid Al Marri, chief executive of real estate registration sector at Dubai Land Department.

“This programme will attract investors and help us achieve that strategy.”

The DLD is open to partnering with more developers in future, he added.

The DLD also launched other initiatives this year to support the growth of the property sector in the emirate, including the roll-out of the smart rental index with a classification and a rating system from one to five stars for residential buildings as well as the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project to attract more investment into the property sector.

“These types of products will enhance and boost the market, to reach to our targets,” Mr Al Marri said.

In May, a report by New York-based Fitch Ratings predicted that Dubai’s property market would enter a “moderate correction” in the second half of 2025 as a record number of projects launch. The ratings agency also estimated that residential prices could fall by as much as 15 per cent this year.

The property transaction numbers are continuing to rise every year, which indicates the market is performing strongly, Mr Al Marri said.

“The curve is up … you see the stock of the developer … you see the people who are entering,” he said in response to a question related to the Fitch report.