Dubai’s property market has reportedly lost all of its gains this year as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East escalate following the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran.
The DFM Property Index has fallen by around 20% in the last five trading sessions, completely erasing the gains recorded since the beginning of the year.
The index had previously performed strongly with an increase of around 15% for the calendar year 2025. The positive momentum followed larger surges in the previous year, namely 63% in 2024 and 38% in 2023.
The index also hit a high of 16,910.3 on February 27, before tensions in the Middle East escalated significantly and affected global investor sentiment.
The current pressure comes after the Dubai property market went through a very strong growth cycle in recent years.
In 2025, the total value of real estate transactions in the emirate reached almost AED917 billion, or about 250 billion US dollars, making it the highest value in the city's history.
During the period, more than 270,000 transactions were recorded, indicating a high level of investor participation and strong market liquidity.
Dubai's main index fell 2.4 percent in the latest trading session, pressured by a 4.7 percent drop in shares of major property company Emaar Properties and a 4.9 percent decline in shares of the emirate's largest bank, Emirates NBD.
However, Air Arabia shares rose 0.7 percent after five consecutive sessions of declines. The low-cost airline had previously lost more than 20 percent of its value in the past five trading days.
Data analyzed by Anarock showed that Dubai's real estate market continues to attract global investors despite global economic uncertainty.
Since 2021, residential prices in Dubai have increased by around 60 to 75 percent, making the emirate one of the strongest performing global real estate markets in the post-pandemic recovery cycle.
Among foreign investors, Indian buyers remain the largest group, contributing around 20 to 22 percent of overall international property purchases in Dubai.
