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According to Standard Chartered, the UAE’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to expand by 5% in 2026, a steep climb from its earlier 4% projection. Dubai’s real estate market emerged as a critical validator of this projection, as the bank associates the leading factors of the expected Dubai real estate GDP growth surge with strong non-oil growth and expanding trade.
The bank stated that the UAE’s diversified growth drivers are helping the country outperform its global peers and maintain solid momentum. To highlight, the UAE’s non-oil sectors are projected to play a central role in lifting GDP, supported by robust activity in tourism, aviation, logistics, financial services, real estate, manufacturing, and technology.
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Standard Chartered UAE GDP projection highlighted that population growth, favorable demographics, and resilient domestic demand are reinforcing expansion in the aforementioned UAE non-oil economy sectors.
The Dubai real estate market’s performance in 2025 reflected these projections. The market closed the year with 255,298 sales transactions totaling AED 652.1 billion and 693,000 rental agreements totaling AED 72.6 billion.
This performance showcases the population-driven growth dynamics and demonstrates the housing absorption capacity required to support the city’s continued demographic expansion.
Dubai’s Residential Real Estate Market Supporting UAE GDP growth Forecast 2026
In 2025, the Dubai residential real estate transactions segment accounted for approximately 98% of all transactions and 97% of total sales value at AED 635.7 billion. This reflects the housing-driven expansion fueled by demographic tailwinds and sustained in-migration.