Dubai's retail property market opened 2026 with its strongest quarter in recent memory. Sales values jumped 171 percent year on year to AED2.1 billion in the first quarter, according to the latest research from property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell, a pace of growth that outstrips most other segments of the emirate's real estate market.
Q1 2026 retail property snapshot: AED2.1 billion in sales value (up 171 percent year on year), 485 transactions (up 52 percent), average deal size AED4.3 million (up nearly 80 percent).
Around 485 retail sales transactions closed during the quarter, up nearly 52 percent on the same period last year. The average retail property changed hands for AED4.3 million, a price increase of close to 80 percent year on year, pointing to a market where buyers are chasing higher value assets rather than simply transacting more often.
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Off plan retail property did most of the heavy lifting. Off plan sales generated AED1.3 billion, more than 60 percent of total retail sales value for the quarter, as the number of off plan transactions rose 75 percent to 254. Developers have continued to launch new retail focused projects, betting on continued population growth and a tourism sector that remains a core driver of consumer spending in the emirate.
The pace was not even across the quarter. Sales volumes climbed from 139 in January to 196 in February before easing to 150 in March, a slowdown Cavendish Maxwell attributed largely to a 36 percent drop in ready market activity that month. The firm noted that some of the softer March figures may also reflect registration lag on off plan deals, which typically takes 60 to 90 days to show up in the data.
| Where Dubai retail rents rose fastest in Q1 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Business Bay | Up 12.6 percent year on year |
| Downtown Dubai | Up 12.5 percent year on year |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | Up 12.2 percent year on year |
| Palm Jumeirah | Up 10.8 percent year on year |
Leasing told a slightly different story. Overall retail leasing activity dipped 11 percent in March compared with the same month last year, with new lease agreements falling sharply while renewals, which made up more than 82 percent of contracts, held broadly steady. Average retail rents across Dubai were still up 6.4 percent year on year for the quarter, with the sharpest increases concentrated in Business Bay, Downtown Dubai, Jumeirah Village Circle and Palm Jumeirah.
Vidhi Shah, Director and Head of Commercial Valuation at Cavendish Maxwell, said the quarter's fundamentals stayed positive despite the disruption of Ramadan, Eid Al Fitr and regional uncertainty, with community and convenience led retail assets proving particularly resilient. For Dubai's investors and developers, the takeaway is that off plan retail has become a genuine growth engine in its own right, not just a residential story, and one that is likely to keep attracting capital as the emirate's population and tourism numbers continue to climb.
