Downtown Jebel Ali recorded 326 office sales in Q3 2026, overtaking Business Bay as Dubai’s busiest location for office property transactions, according to Cavendish Maxwell.
The area accounted for almost 30% of all office sales during the quarter, with activity driven entirely by off-plan properties. New launches, including Raw District by Imtiaz and Samana Business Hub, contributed to the increase.
Business Bay ranks second in office sales
Business Bay recorded 271 office transactions, placing it second in Dubai for Q3 2026.
Jumeirah Lakes Towers followed with 160 transactions, while Motor City recorded 70 and Dubai Sports City had 41.
Investors spent Dhs 4.3 billion across around 1,100 office transactions during the quarter.
Dubai office prices reach Dhs 2,005 per square foot
Average office sales prices reached Dhs 2,005 per square foot in Q3, marking an increase of nearly 9% compared with the same period last year.
Average office rents also increased by 6.5% year-on-year to Dhs 187.5 per square foot.
However, both sales prices and rents eased slightly for the second consecutive quarter.
DIFC records highest office rent increase
DIFC recorded Dubai’s highest annual office rent increase at 14.7%, more than double the market average of 6.5%.
Barsha Heights followed with a 9.1% increase, while Downtown Dubai recorded growth of 8.1%. Business Bay and Jumeirah Lakes Towers also reported above-average rental increases.
Off-plan offices account for 63% of sales
Off-plan properties dominated Dubai’s office market in Q3, accounting for around 700 transactions, or 63% of total sales.
This marks a shift from Q3 2025, when ready offices represented nearly 66% of transactions, reflecting the impact of new project launches.
Smaller offices also attracted strong demand. Units below 1,000 square feet recorded a sales increase of more than 190% compared with the same quarter last year and accounted for 53% of off-plan transactions.
In the ready market, offices measuring between 1,000 and 2,000 square feet represented 52.6% of sales.
Dubai adds new office space
Dubai received 44,100 square metres of new office space in Q3, taking total deliveries since January to 136,400 square metres.
The city’s total office stock now exceeds 9.5 million square metres.
A further 106,400 square metres is expected to be delivered by the end of 2026, followed by 400,000 square metres in 2027 and 528,000 square metres in 2028.
Some projects initially scheduled for 2028 have been pushed back to 2029.
Office market sees changing demand
According to Cavendish Maxwell, Dubai recorded nearly 40% higher office sales values compared with Q3 2025, although values fell 42% from Q2 2026.
The number of transactions increased 11.5% quarter-on-quarter but declined 3.6% year-on-year.
The drop in sales value was largely linked to fewer high-value deals. More than 200 office transactions worth Dhs 10 million or more were recorded in Q2, compared with around 80 in Q3.
Vidhi Shah MRICS, Director and Head of Commercial Valuation at Cavendish Maxwell, said: “Dubai’s office market demonstrated a mixed performance in Q3 2026, with transaction volumes showing signs of recovery following a subdued Q2, but still below the elevated levels recorded earlier in the year. Meanwhile, price and rental growth are moderating, signalling a period of market normalisation following sustained growth in recent quarters. Looking ahead, a degree of uncertainty remains regarding the market’s near-term trajectory, with performance over the coming quarters expected to provide greater clarity on emerging trends and the broader market outlook.”
