Before you start looking
How much do you actually need to buy in Dubai?
Put in what you have. It works out what that reaches, what the deposit and the fees take out of it, and what is left to pay monthly. Off-plan is the other tab, because the same money reaches a very different number there and that is the part most people are not told.
Banks lend materially less to a non-resident, so the same cash reaches a smaller property.
You could buy up to
1,851,852
Down-payment floors are the UAE Central Bank’s mortgage caps: 20% for an expatriate first home up to 5 million dirhams, 30% above that, and 40% for a second or subsequent property. Non-resident lending is capped lower again. Purchase costs are estimated at a blended 7%, which covers the 4% Land Department transfer fee plus agency, registration and trustee charges. Indicative only, not a mortgage offer and not financial advice.
The deposit floors are the Central Bank’s, not the bank’s
A UAE bank cannot lend you more than the Central Bank’s loan-to-value caps allow, so shopping around does not move these. For an expatriate buying a first home to live in, the cap is 80% of a property up to 5 million dirhams, which is a 20% deposit. Above 5 million it is 70%, so 30%. A second or subsequent property is 60%, so 40%. Lending to a non-resident is capped lower again, which is why the same cash reaches a much smaller property if you are buying from abroad.
The 7% almost nobody quotes you
The deposit is not the cash you need. On top of it sits the Land Department transfer fee of 4%, the agency commission of about 2%, and registration, trustee and admin charges of roughly 1%. Around 7% of the purchase price, in cash, on the day, and it is the line that most often turns a buyer who thought they were ready into one who is 90,000 dirhams short. The calculator takes it out of your cash before telling you what you can buy, which is why its answer is smaller than the one you will get elsewhere.
So what is “zero down payment”?
It is the most searched version of this question, and taken literally it is not a mortgage, because the caps above make a zero-deposit mortgage impossible. What is being advertised is an off-plan developer payment plan: a booking amount, then instalments while it is built, and on some plans instalments continuing after you have the keys. You still pay the booking amount and the registration of about 4% at the start.
That is a real and often sensible product rather than a trick, and it genuinely does let a given amount of cash reach a larger property. Two things to hold onto. The price is not lower, it is spread out, so the comparison that matters is still the price against what the building actually registers at. And you are committing to instalments on a property that does not exist yet, which makes the developer’s delivery record the thing to check before the payment plan.
Off-plan, checked against the register and developers and their record are the two pages for that.
Before you talk to anyone
Found a property? Check the price against the register first.
Paste any listing you are considering, from anywhere. We compare the asking price against what comparable homes actually sold for on the Dubai Land Department register and tell you plainly whether it stacks up. Free, and you do not need an account.
Check a propertyDown-payment floors are the UAE Central Bank’s mortgage loan regulations as they stand; confirm the current caps with a lender or the Central Bank before you commit. Purchase costs are a blended estimate of published Dubai fees, not a quote. Indicative only, and not financial, mortgage, legal or tax advice.
