Buy in Dubai, let it 11 months, live 1 month: 2026 numbers

Rental income and yield

A one-bedroom for AED 1,200,000 nets about 5.5% let by the night for 12 months; your own month costs AED 3,400 in July and AED 9,800 in January. Seasonality, permit, building rules and a worked month-by-month model.

In brief

As of 1 November 2026, a one-bedroom bought in Dubai for AED 1,200,000 (about $327,000, 800 sq ft) and let by the night for 12 months would net about AED 66,500 a year in our illustrative model, 5.5% on the price. Taking July for yourself costs about AED 3,400 and leaves 5.3%; taking January costs about AED 9,800 and leaves 4.7%. A long let of a similar flat nets about 4.0% in our earlier worked example. These are arithmetic on stated assumptions, not forecasts, and Dubai's 2026 market is softer than 2025.

Does the plan fit Dubai?

The idea is simple: you already like Dubai, so you buy an apartment, let it to guests for eleven months and spend the twelfth in it yourself. Dubai suits the model better than most resort markets for one reason: the months that earn the most are also the months with the best weather, so the owner's month is cheap in money only when it is expensive in comfort. Winter, from November to March, is peak season for guests and for rates. Summer is the opposite: extreme heat empties the city of leisure visitors. That trade-off is the core of this article.

It suits an owner who will really come for a month, who accepts a net return in the middle single digits rather than the headline figures in sales brochures, and who is willing to run the flat through a licensed operator. It does not suit a buyer who needs a guaranteed return, who wants the owner month in January, or who has not checked whether the building allows holiday lets.

The 2026 context matters. Since 28 February 2026 the Gulf has been affected by the war between Iran and the US and Israel, including strikes on the UAE; a US-Iran memorandum in June formalised a ceasefire. Cushman & Wakefield recorded city-wide sale prices down about 4% and rents down about 6% in the second quarter, and the supply of holiday homes is growing: one report counts 33,795 active listings, 10.2% more than a year earlier. A management firm quoted in the press put Downtown occupancy at 59% in the second quarter of 2026. Do not underwrite 2024 numbers.

Seasonality: when Dubai fills and empties

Low season runs roughly from May to September because of the heat (PriceLabs). In its Dubai data summer occupancy was 37-39% in June to August against 64% in December, and the summer nightly rate was about 58% of the December rate (our arithmetic on the figures quoted).
A Dubai management-company blog estimates that 55-60% of annual short-let income is earned between November and March. Our model below gives 58%.
AirROI data for the Marina shows the nightly rate peaking in March and bottoming out in July.
Annual averages disagree: AirDNA shows 69% occupancy on its seasonality page and 53% on its overview page, and BnbCalc estimates 49%. We use 55%. An AirDNA-based report puts the average nightly rate at $178 through August 2026, across all unit sizes.
Recovery signals are patchy. One operator with more than 400 managed homes reported 88% occupancy in September and rates about 80% above the summer. That is one sample, not the market.

Read the shape rather than a single number: Dubai earns in winter and spring, drops sharply from May and recovers from October.

Where to buy and what each budget gets

Tiers below follow our guide to what a given budget buys in Dubai; check what you can buy in Dubai for $150,000-500,000, best areas to buy in Dubai and rental yield by district for the underlying figures.

Lower tier, about AED 551,000-735,000 ($150,000-200,000): a studio or compact one-bedroom, about 39-76 m², in Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) or Dubai South. JVC prices are roughly AED 900-1,300 per sq ft with service charges of AED 8-14 per sq ft. Reported holiday-let occupancy is 65-72% in JVC. Trade-offs: you need a car, construction continues around you, and the area has the most new supply.
Middle tier, about $200,000-300,000: a larger one-bedroom in JVC, Arjan, Dubai Silicon Oasis or Dubai South. Same logic as above with more space, but guests choose by location and metro access, which these areas lack.
Upper tier, about $300,000-500,000: a two-bedroom in Jumeirah Lake Towers or a one-to-two-bedroom resale in Dubai Marina. Marina prices are roughly AED 1,650-2,900 per sq ft with service charges of AED 16-28; reported holiday-let occupancy is 65-82%. Business Bay (AED 1,450-2,700, service charge AED 14-22, reported occupancy 70-79%) sits between the two.
Downtown and the Palm are capital and liquidity areas, not holiday-let income areas, and above the budgets we use here.

Our worked example below, AED 1,200,000 for 800 sq ft (about 74 m²), sits in the upper tier.

The numbers: one flat, 12 months of letting against 11

Everything in this section is our own illustration. The assumptions are:

Price AED 1,200,000 (about $327,000 at 3.6725 per dollar), 800 sq ft, one bedroom in a Marina or Business Bay type location.
Occupancy by month: January 66%, February 68%, March 64%, April 55%, May 44%, June 40%, July 39%, August 40%, September 50%, October 61%, November 66%, December 68%. That is 55% over the year.
Average nightly rate in AED, January to December: 662, 684, 720, 612, 490, 418, 396, 403, 504, 626, 670, 720. The weighted average is about AED 600 (about $163).
Costs: operator 20% of revenue, linen, consumables and repairs 8% of revenue, service charge AED 16 per sq ft (AED 12,800), holiday-home permit about AED 1,890 a year, utilities and internet AED 450 a month (AED 5,400). The Tourism Dirham is paid by guests and is a pass-through, not a cost. No income tax or annual property tax in Dubai.

Gross revenue by month in AED, January to December: 13,545; 13,023; 14,285; 10,098; 6,684; 5,016; 4,788; 4,997; 7,560; 11,838; 13,266; 15,178. The year is AED 120,276, or 10.0% of the price. Take off 28% of revenue for the operator and running costs and AED 20,090 of fixed costs, and the net is about AED 66,500: 5.5% on the price, 5.2% on the price plus the roughly 7% you paid in purchase costs. November to March earns 58% of the gross.

Which month to take for yourself

The cost of the owner month is the net income you give up; the fixed costs run either way. In AED, by month of the owner stay:

July about 3,450, August about 3,600, June about 3,600: the cheapest months, and the hottest.
May about 4,800, September about 5,450: still cheap, still warm.
April about 7,250, October about 8,500: the shoulder, where weather improves and the price starts to bite.
January about 9,750, March about 10,300, December about 10,900: the best weather and the most expensive months.

With the owner month in July the net is about AED 63,100, or 5.3% on the price. With January it is about AED 56,800, or 4.7%; with December about AED 55,600, or 4.6%. The spread between the cheapest and the most expensive month is about AED 7,500, roughly 11% of the year's net. If you want guaranteed good weather, you are paying for it in lost winter bookings. If you accept October or May, you give up about AED 4,800-8,500 and still enjoy the apartment. Use the method in how to choose your month and calculate break-even to repeat the calculation with your own prices.

What if occupancy or rates fall, and what a long let would earn

If occupancy is 10 percentage points lower in every month, the 12-month net falls to about AED 51,400 (4.3%) and about AED 48,800 (4.1%) with July for yourself.
If rates are 10% lower, the net is about AED 57,800 (4.8%), and about AED 54,700 (4.6%) with July for yourself.
The holiday-let model stays ahead of a long let only above about 43% average occupancy at these rates. Our worked long-let example in the Dubai rental yield article nets about AED 47,600, roughly 4.0%, on the same price. Below that occupancy, a long let is simpler and earns the same or more.

The holiday-home permit and your own stay

Any unit let to guests in Dubai needs a holiday-home permit from the Department of Economy and Tourism, and the permit number must appear on every listing. Our summary of published figures: a registration charge of about AED 1,520 and an annual permit fee of AED 370 for a studio or one-bedroom, up to AED 1,270, with permits valid up to 12 months. The Tourism Dirham is AED 10 per room per night for a standard holiday home and AED 15 for a deluxe one, charged for the first 30 nights of a stay. Operating without a permit is an offence, with fines reported from AED 5,000 and delisting by the platforms. Details and the checklist are in short-term rental rules in Dubai; confirm fees on the official portal.

For your own month, the practical point is that nothing in the rules we found limits an owner from staying in a permitted unit, but you must close the calendar so that the flat is not booked while you live there, and guest-registration duties apply to guests, not to you. We did not verify how the authority treats a unit that is both occupied by its owner and let, so ask the operator and the community manager in writing. The wider picture of licences, building bylaws and insurance is in licences, condo rules and insurance for a home you live in and rent out.

Building rules and service charges

A permit does not override the building or the master community. Owners' associations, developers and community managers can restrict or prohibit holiday homes, and some towers are run as hotel-apartments with their own arrangements. Ask for the position in writing before you buy. Service charges are paid whether or not the flat is let: AED 8-14 per sq ft in budget communities, 20-35 in premium towers. Check the building in the Dubai Land Department service-charge index rather than a broker's quote.

Taxes in short

The UAE has no personal income tax on rent and no annual property tax, which is why our net figures are not reduced by tax. Your home country may still tax the income, and some countries count the days you use the flat yourself. The comparison is in how the rent and your own days are taxed. If you sell, see capital gains tax when selling in Dubai. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.

Buying costs and money

Budget about 7% on top of the price for the Dubai Land Department fee and the agent (our guides). Service charge and the first year's permit follow. At AED 1,200,000 that is about AED 84,000 up front. A purchase at this level does not reach the AED 2 million threshold for the Golden Visa; see the Dubai Golden Visa guide if residence matters to you. If you buy off-plan, the income starts only at handover: read off-plan risks in Dubai first.

Mistakes to avoid

Underwriting the sales-brochure yield instead of a net figure with 55% occupancy.
Taking the owner month in January and then wondering why the net is lower.
Buying in a tower whose bylaws prohibit holiday lets.
Ignoring service charges in a premium tower.
Forgetting that the flat may be empty in summer and the cost of electricity for air conditioning.
Letting the operator keep the calendar open for your month.
Assuming that rents will keep rising after the 2024-2025 run.

Checklist before you buy

Ask the community manager for written confirmation that holiday homes are allowed.
Get the last twelve months of service charges for the building.
Ask the operator how your owner month is blocked and whether the fee is charged on blocked nights.
Ask for twelve months of occupancy and rate data for the same building, not the city.
Model the net with 55% and with 45% occupancy.
Confirm tax treatment in your home country.

FAQ

Can I live in my Dubai flat for a month and let it for the rest of the year? Yes in principle, if the building allows holiday homes and the unit has a permit; block your dates in the calendar and ask the operator how it treats them.

Which month should I take? The cheapest months are June to August, but it is hot; May, September and October cost about AED 4,800-8,500 and are more comfortable; January to March and December cost the most.

Is holiday letting better than a long let? Only above about 43% average occupancy in our model, and it needs more work.

Do I pay tax on the rent in Dubai? The UAE has no personal income tax on rent; your home country may tax it.

Do I need a permit? Yes, a holiday-home permit from the authority, with the number on the listing.

Buy in Dubai where you holiday: let it 11 months, live there 1 month. The numbers for 2026