Dubai rental yield and ROI calculator
Work out the gross and net rental yield on a Dubai property after service charges, management, vacancy and maintenance, and see the true return once the 7 to 10% purchase costs are included.
Free, no sign-up. Rates reviewed 26 July 2026The property
Service charge
The single biggest cost, and the one most often left out of a quoted yield.
That is 16,200 a year. The rate is set per community and published by DLD in the service charge index.
Running costs
Rent divided by price. The number in the listing.
76,560 a year after costs, or 6,380 a month.
Against 1,596,550, the price plus what it cost to buy.
Where the rent goes
Payback
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How this is calculated
Gross yield is annual rent divided by the purchase price. It is the number in the listing and it ignores every cost of owning the unit.
Net yield starts from the rent you actually collect. Expected vacancy comes off first, because a management fee is charged on rent received rather than on rent hoped for. Then the service charge, the management fee, maintenance and anything else are subtracted, and what is left is divided by the price.
Return on total capital divides that same net income by the price plus what it cost to buy: the 4% DLD fee, the trustee and title fees and the agency commission, about 6.5% on a cash purchase. Nearly every published Dubai yield leaves this out, and it is why a property that looks like 6% behaves like 5.6%.
Payback is the capital deployed divided by net annual income. When costs exceed income it is reported as never rather than as a very large number, because an infinite payback is a finding, not a rounding artefact.
Capital appreciation is deliberately excluded. This measures what the property pays you, not what you hope to sell it for.
Questions people ask
What is a good rental yield in Dubai?
Gross yields in Dubai commonly run between 5% and 8%, and the headline figures quoted in listings are gross. Net yield, after the service charge, management, vacancy and maintenance, typically lands 1.5 to 2.5 percentage points lower. A net yield above 5% is strong for the emirate.
What is the difference between gross and net rental yield?
Gross yield is annual rent divided by the purchase price and ignores every cost of owning. Net yield subtracts the service charge, management fee, maintenance and expected vacancy first. The gap between them is not small in Dubai, because the service charge is charged per square foot and paid by the owner, not the tenant.
How much are service charges in Dubai?
Usually between AED 12 and AED 30 per square foot per year, set per community and approved by the Dubai Land Department, which publishes an index. Towers with extensive amenities, chilled water and concierge sit at the top of that range and can exceed it. On a 900 sq ft apartment at AED 18 that is AED 16,200 a year, which is most of the gap between gross and net yield.
Should purchase costs be counted in the yield?
They should, and almost no published yield does. Buying costs about 6.5% of the price in DLD fees, commission and registration on a cash purchase, and that money is capital deployed just as much as the price is. Measured against price plus purchase costs, a 6% net yield becomes about 5.6%. It is the honest figure for comparing property against other investments.
Can I raise the rent every year in Dubai?
Not freely. The RERA rental index governs increases for a sitting tenant on a scale that depends on how far the current rent sits below the market rate, and no increase is permitted at all when the rent is within 10% of market. That applies to renewals, not to a new tenancy after the unit is vacated.
Other free tools
These numbers, against real Dubai inventory
Doment tracks Dubai off-plan, resale and rental stock against the Dubai Land Department register, with published payment plans, handover dates and prices on every project.