Dubai homes over $10 million: 500 sales in 2025 and a record 296 in the first half of 2026

While Dubai's mainstream market cools in 2026, its top floor keeps setting records. Knight Frank counted 500 home sales above US$10m in 2025, worth US$9.05bn in total, 27.7% more than in 2024. In 2020 there were 30. By number of such sales Dubai has been the world's busiest US$10m+ market for several years, with more than three times London's total in 2025.

The 2025 record

Year	Sales above US$10m
2020	30
2023	434
2024	435
2025	500

A record 68 homes sold above US$25m. The year finished strongly, with 143 US$10m+ sales in the fourth quarter against 103 in the third. Fourth-quarter activity concentrated on Palm Jumeirah (28), Palm Jebel Ali (22), La Mer (16), Jumeirah Second (13) and Tilal Al Ghaf (9).

2026: the crisis barely shows at the top

The first half of 2026 was the best on record for the segment: 296 sales above US$10m worth US$5.1bn, 14% more than in the first half of 2025. The first quarter set a quarterly record with 165 sales; the second, which fell in the most nervous period, still produced 131. The most expensive sale of the half was a residence at Aman Residences in Jumeirah Second for US$114.9m. Dubai Hills Estate led the half with 51 sales, followed by Palm Jumeirah (50) and Palm Jebel Ali (40): ready family villas on one side, a relaunched island under construction on the other.

Why the top end is more resilient

• Ready prime stock is scarce. Few finished waterfront villas exist, and the new islands are years from completion. A family relocating now has little to choose from.
• Buyers do not depend on mortgages. US$10m purchases are almost always cash, so rates and bank criteria barely matter.
• Owners, not traders. Knight Frank notes that 25% of homes were resold within 12 months in 2008; last year the share was 4%.
• Wealth keeps arriving. The UAE has led global millionaire inflows for several years, and a family moving with capital needs a home, not a yield product.

Knight Frank's 2026 forecast for prime values was modest, around +3%. At this level the case rests less on price growth than on scarcity: a view, a plot or a beachfront that cannot be recreated.

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