Dubai has come out as one of the more affordable places in the world to buy a home, according to UBS's Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2026, which surveyed 23 major cities across the globe.
The bank's findings show that an average earner in Dubai needs just five years of income to buy a 60-square-metre apartment near the city centre. That is a fraction of what buyers face elsewhere. In Hong Kong, the same purchase requires 15 years of income. In London, it takes 11 years. Tokyo, Paris and Seoul all require more than a decade of average earnings to buy a similarly sized home.
Renting versus buying in Dubai
UBS also looked at the price-to-rent ratio, which measures how many years of rental income it would take to cover the cost of buying a home outright. In Dubai, that figure stands at 16 years, putting it level with Miami and São Paulo. By contrast, buyers in Zurich would need 46 years of rental income to pay off a home, while Geneva sits at 40 years.
The gap explains why UBS described Dubai as one of the few markets where owning still makes more financial sense than renting. As the bank put it, "Despite elevated mortgage rates, Dubai remains one of the few markets where homeownership remains relatively attractive given the high cost of renting."
Prices cooling after a long rally
The affordability picture comes as Dubai's property market shows signs of settling after more than five years of sustained gains. Real house prices rose just 0.4 per cent in the year to the second quarter of 2026, a marked slowdown from the pace of recent years. Real rents, meanwhile, fell 4 per cent over the same period, easing pressure on tenants even as sale prices held broadly steady.
UBS attributed some of this softening to a natural correction following the extended rally, but the bank was careful to note that Dubai's underlying appeal has not diminished. It said the city's "structural advantages", including its strategic location and standing as an international business hub, "remain firmly intact".
Where Dubai sits on bubble risk
UBS classified Zurich and Tokyo as facing "high" bubble risk, the most serious tier in its index. Dubai was placed in the "elevated" category alongside Miami, Seoul, Lisbon and Geneva, reflecting a market that has cooled somewhat but is not considered low-risk. London, Paris, New York, San Francisco and São Paulo were all rated "low risk".
UBS said Dubai's bubble risk "remains elevated" despite some easing since March, suggesting the recent softening in prices and rents has not been enough to shift the city out of that middle tier.
For prospective buyers in Dubai, the numbers offer a reassuring contrast to some of the world's most stretched housing markets. Five years of income to buy a home is a markedly different proposition to the decade-plus timelines facing residents of Tokyo, Paris, Seoul, London or Hong Kong, even as UBS flags that the city's market has not fully shaken off the risks built up during its multi-year price rally.
