Ask five people in Dubai what deposit you need and four will say twenty per cent. They are quoting a real rule, but only one slice of it, and the gap between that answer and your actual number is often three hundred thousand dirhams.
The number everyone quotes
Twenty per cent is correct if you are an expatriate resident, buying your first home, and the property is under five million dirhams. That describes a lot of first time buyers, which is why the figure travels so well. It is also the most generous tier in the table.
Move outside those three conditions and the number changes, sometimes sharply. The Central Bank sets maximum loan to value ratios, and every bank in the country works inside them. No amount of negotiating moves these lines, which is the one part of a mortgage that is genuinely not up for discussion.
What the regulation actually says
| Who you are | Max loan | You put in |
|---|---|---|
| UAE national, first home under AED 5M | 85% | 15% |
| Expat resident, first home under AED 5M | 80% | 20% |
| Expat resident, first home over AED 5M | 70% | 30% |
| Expat resident, second or investment property | 60% | 40% |
| Non resident buying ready property | 50 to 60% | 40% |
| Anyone buying off plan | 50% | 50% |
Figures are Central Bank maximums. Individual banks may lend less, never more.
The deposit is the number people save for. The fees are the number that delays them a year.
The seven to eight per cent nobody counts
Beyond the deposit there is a second pile of money, due at transfer, and it is almost never included in the figure buyers carry around in their heads. On a two and a half million dirham purchase it lands close to a hundred and eighty five thousand.
AED 100,000
AED 52,500
AED 5,290
AED 20,000
AED 3,150
AED 4,200
AED 185,140
So what should you actually save?
Take the property price, apply your row from the table above, then add another eight per cent for the transfer costs. For an expatriate resident buying a first home at two and a half million, that is five hundred thousand of deposit and a further hundred and eighty five thousand of fees. Six hundred and eighty five thousand, in cash, on the day.
It is a larger number than most people expect, and it is the single most common reason a purchase slips by twelve months. Knowing it early is worth more than any rate we could negotiate for you later.
- Twenty per cent applies to expatriate residents buying a first home under AED 5M. Nothing else.
- Second and investment properties are capped at sixty per cent, so budget forty per cent down.
- Add seven to eight per cent of the price for transfer, agency, registration and valuation.
- The deposit and the fees together are the real entry price. Work backwards from that.