Dubai Luxury Home Sales Hit a Record: 296 Homes Above $10 Million Sold in H1 2026, Led by Dubai Hills Estate and Palm Jumeirah

Dubai's most expensive slice of the housing market has never had a stronger opening half. Knight Frank counted 296 sales above 10 million dollars, roughly AED 36.7 million, between January and June 2026, together worth 5.1 billion dollars. That is 16 percent more deals than the first half of 2025 and 49 percent more than the same period of 2024, making it the busiest first half the city's luxury segment has ever recorded.

The pace barely slowed through spring. After 165 sales in the first quarter, the second quarter added 131 more, and 26 of those closed above 25 million dollars, the most ultra luxury deals Dubai has ever registered in a single quarter.

Where the money went

Three communities absorbed almost half of the activity. Dubai Hills Estate led with 51 sales above the 10 million dollar line, edging out Palm Jumeirah on 50, while Palm Jebel Ali took third with 40, a striking result for a masterplan whose villas will not be handed over before 2028. Buyers at this level are clearly willing to pay today for waterfront addresses that so far exist mostly on drawings, a pattern visible across Dubai's off-plan projects more broadly.

The trophy deals

• A six bedroom apartment at Aman Residences in Jumeirah Second sold for 114.9 million dollars, about AED 422 million, the priciest apartment deal of the half.
• A six bedroom villa on Jumeirah Bay Island changed hands for 76.3 million dollars.
• An 80,000 square foot plot on Naia Island fetched 152.5 million dollars, proof that raw waterfront land now trades as a trophy asset in its own right.

A record top end inside a cooler market

The luxury run stands out against a wider market that has come off the boil. Cavendish Maxwell puts first half residential sales at about AED 221 billion across roughly 79,200 transactions, down around 14 percent on a year earlier. The contrast suggests wealthy buyers treat Dubai as a long term base rather than a quick trade, and Knight Frank's own numbers back that up: only about 4 percent of homes were resold within a year of purchase, against roughly a quarter of them during the 2008 boom.

Knight Frank expects the usual summer lull to slow the prime market through the third quarter. But with Dubai Hills Estate, Palm Jumeirah and Palm Jebel Ali all deepening their ultra prime inventory, the ceiling on Dubai's trophy prices looks far from tested.