Dubai’s office market has had an exceptional run, but the averages now hide more than they reveal. Here are extracts from my own office analysis, the work behind the two offices in my portfolio.
The market in four numbers
- 20.2K office lease transactions in Q3 2026, at a citywide average of AED 241 per sq ft (Savills).
- 66% of those deals were for units under 1,000 sq ft: demand is broad, but it is dominated by smaller occupiers (Savills).
- Headline rents eased 1% in Q1 2026 after 19 consecutive quarters of growth (Newmark).
- About 20.4M sq ft of new office supply is in the pipeline for 2026–2030 (Savills), with only 2.4M sq ft due in 2026 (Newmark).
Demand is led by Banking & Finance (32.5%) and Technology (23.1%) (Knight Frank). These occupiers want to be in, or next to, DIFC.
A two-speed market: the ceiling versus the floor
The citywide average of AED 241 is pulled down by older stock. Prime districts trade on a different scale:
| District | Evidenced rent, AED psf p.a. | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DIFC | 325–750 (prime 600–850) | Savills Q3 2026; Knight Frank H2 2025 |
| Trade Centre / DWTC | 350–550, transactions to 1,000 | Savills Q3 2026 |
| Business Bay, Grade A average | 254 | Newmark Q1 2026 |
| Business Bay, prime | 270–300 | Knight Frank H2 2025 |
| Business Bay, best new-build asking | 375–450 | Magnum Opus Bay, Oct 2026 |
My own snapshot of current Property Finder asking rents shows the same split: a median of about AED 650 psf across 303 DIFC office listings, against about AED 198 psf across 156 in Business Bay. Business Bay’s rent ceiling, at about AED 450, sits far below DIFC and Trade Centre. That cap is what matters most when you buy an office for income.
Extract from my analysis: the yield maths
For SOL Luxe (66 Grade A++ offices on the last greenfield Sheikh Zayed Road plot, one minute from DIFC Metro), I model three shell-and-core rent scenarios against an illustrative purchase price of AED 5,400 per sq ft:
| Scenario | Rent, AED psf | Indicative gross yield |
|---|---|---|
| Base (conservative) | 600 | 11.1% |
| Good | 750 | 13.9% |
| Great | 900 | 16.7% |
The base case is deliberately conservative: AED 600 sits inside the prime DIFC band and assumes no rental growth to handover. Even this floor is a third above Business Bay’s AED 450 ceiling.
Where Business Bay still makes sense
Business Bay is not a bad market. It is a different one. Berkeley Tower, Ellington’s new Grade A tower beside Business Bay Metro, costs less to enter, but at a capped rent of about AED 320 psf its indicative gross yield in my comparison is about 6.7%. For a firm that wants to own and occupy its headquarters on SZR, that is a sound purchase. For an investor seeking income, the address does the work, and that is why SOL Luxe leads my office portfolio.
Before you buy any office
- Shell and core or fitted: fitted suites command more rent but need fit-out capital.
- Service charges: about AED 20–30 psf in Business Bay and AED 30–50 psf in prime towers.
- Unit size: two-thirds of leasing demand is for small suites, so smaller units let faster.
Yields are indicative and gross, at today’s rents with no growth assumed, and exclude service charges, voids, fit-out and financing. They are not a forecast or a guarantee.
Properties mentioned in this article
- SOL Luxe Grade A++ Offices, Sheikh Zayed Road (Trade Centre)
- Berkeley Tower Grade A Offices, Business Bay by Ellington
For details on any of these properties, or a view on your own portfolio, get in touch.
Sources
- Savills, Dubai Office Market, Q3 2026 (link)
- Newmark, Dubai Office Market Report, Q1 2026 (link)
- Knight Frank, Dubai Office Market Review, H2 2025 (link)
- Property Finder, office listings in DIFC and Business Bay (asking rents snapshot, October 2026) (link)
- Alaa Ahmed, SOL Luxe office investment analysis (2026), internal working paper
This article is for information only and is not financial or investment advice. Figures are taken from the sources listed and may change.
