W Capital Real Estate Brokerage has described Dubai property as a "millionaire-making engine", pointing to Dubai Land Department figures showing AED 680 billion (US$185 billion) of investment in 2025 and a Henley & Partners count of 81,200 resident millionaires. The official data holds up; the label is the brokerage's.

Dubai, 28 October 2026. A Dubai brokerage has argued that the emirate's property market has moved from attracting wealth to creating it, in a statement reported by Arabian Business on 27 October that leans on two sets of published figures: the Dubai Land Department's record 2025 investment data and Henley & Partners' most recent count of resident millionaires.

The numbers behind the claim are official. According to the Government of Dubai Media Office, which published the Land Department's annual results on 12 January 2026, real estate investment in Dubai exceeded AED 680 billion in calendar 2025 across 258,600 investments. Value rose 29% on 2024 and the number of investments rose 20%. At the dirham's peg of 3.6725 to the dollar, that is roughly US$185 billion.

What the Land Department reported

The same release put total 2025 transactions at more than 270,000, worth AED 917 billion, a 20% increase on the previous year. Counting leases and other services, the department recorded 3.11 million transactions, up 7%.

The investor base widened sharply. Around 193,100 investors took part in 2025, 24% more than in 2024, of whom 129,600 were investing in Dubai for the first time. Residents accounted for 56.6% of investors. Women invested AED 154 billion through 76,700 deals, a 31% rise in value. The department also reported that the average tenant now takes 4.8 years to become an owner.

Omar Hamad Bu Shehab, Director General of the Dubai Land Department, said in the release that the results reflected a more mature and sustainable market built on transparency, governance and data-driven policy, and that the sector remained on course for the Dubai Real Estate Sector Strategy 2033, which targets AED 1 trillion in annual transactions.

The millionaire figure, and its date

The 81,200 figure comes from the World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2025, published in April 2025 by Henley & Partners with New World Wealth. It counts residents with investable wealth of US$1 million or more as at the end of 2024, and it placed Dubai 18th among the world's cities, up from 21st a year earlier, with growth of 102% between 2014 and 2024. The same report counted 237 centi-millionaires and 20 billionaires in the emirate.

Two points of context matter. The count predates the 2025 investment surge by a full year, so it cannot reflect wealth created by last year's activity. And Henley measures total net worth from every source, not property alone; Arabian Business itself noted that the figure does not show how many of Dubai's millionaires made their money in real estate.

The brokerage's case

W Capital, a Dubai brokerage licensed by the Department of Economy and Tourism and the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, published a separate study earlier in October tracing the Land Department's annual investment totals from AED 148 billion in 2021 to more than AED 680 billion in 2025, a rise of roughly 360%, according to reports in TradeArabia and Emarat Al Youm. Over the same period, the brokerage's compilation shows the number of investors rising from 52,415 to about 193,100.

The study also broke down 2025 inflows by origin: AED 308 billion from Asia, AED 188 billion from Europe, AED 54.63 billion from North America and AED 41 billion from Africa. Among non-resident investors, 83.7% of investment went into off-plan property rather than completed units.

Walid Al Zarooni, Chairman of W Capital, told Arabian Business that returns depend on "the right price, project quality and investment horizon" rather than short-term speculation. He argued that Dubai's regulatory framework, freehold zones, infrastructure and long-term residency options together explain why capital keeps arriving.

Reading the numbers: Consulting Media analysis

The official data supports a narrower statement than the brokerage's slogan. Dubai recorded its largest ever year of property investment in 2025, drew a record number of first-time investors, and continues to rank among the top 20 cities for resident millionaires. Whether property is manufacturing millionaires, as opposed to attracting people who already are, is not something either dataset can show. Henley counts net worth; the Land Department counts transactions.

For investors, the more useful figures are the ones the brokerage's framing skips past. A 4.8-year tenant-to-owner cycle, 129,600 first-time investors and an 83.7% off-plan share among non-residents describe a market driven by new entrants buying unbuilt stock. That profile rewards careful selection of developer, location and payment plan, and it carries the delivery and resale risks that off-plan purchases always have.

What happens next

The Dubai Land Department publishes half-year figures in July and full-year results in January, so the first official reading on whether 2026 has matched 2025 is due in January 2027. Henley & Partners' city wealth rankings are usually released in April. Consulting Media was unable to locate a 2026 edition at the time of writing and will update this article if newer Dubai figures are published.

Frequently asked questions

How much was invested in Dubai real estate in 2025?

More than AED 680 billion, roughly US$185 billion, across 258,600 investments, according to the Dubai Land Department's results published on 12 January 2026. Value rose 29% and the number of investments rose 20% compared with 2024.

How many millionaires live in Dubai?

Henley & Partners counted 81,200 resident millionaires in Dubai in its World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2025, measured at the end of 2024, along with 237 centi-millionaires and 20 billionaires. Dubai ranked 18th among world cities on that count.

Did Dubai property create those millionaires?

The data cannot show that. Henley counts total net worth from every source and its 2024 figure predates the 2025 investment surge. Arabian Business, which reported the brokerage's claim, made the same point.

Who are the investors buying in Dubai?

Around 193,100 investors in 2025, of whom 129,600 were first-time investors and 56.6% were UAE residents, according to the Land Department. W Capital's analysis of the same data attributes AED 308 billion of 2025 investment to Asia and AED 188 billion to Europe, and finds 83.7% of non-resident investment went into off-plan units.

When is the next official update?

The Dubai Land Department has published half-year figures in July and full-year figures in January in recent years, so 2026 results are expected in January 2027. That timing is based on past practice, not an announced date.

Sources

This article is based on published reports and official releases; Consulting Media did not conduct interviews for it.