How Much Deposit Do You Need to Buy in Dubai?

Your deposit depends on how you are buying. There are three common routes, and each has its own rule of thumb.

Cash buyer of a ready (secondary market) home: you pay a booking or MOU deposit, most commonly 10% of the price, when you sign the sale agreement. The balance is settled at transfer.

Mortgage buyer of a ready home: the Central Bank of the UAE caps how much a bank can lend, so your down payment is set by the loan-to-value (LTV) limit. Residents put down at least 20%; non-residents usually put down more.

Off-plan buyer (buying from the developer): you pay a down payment, usually 10-20%, then follow the developer's payment plan in instalments up to handover.

Whichever route you take, the deposit is only part of the cash you need on day one. The transfer fees and other costs, covered further down, are separate and are almost always paid from your own funds rather than borrowed.

If you are not using a mortgage, buying a completed home is fast and the deposit structure is simple.

Once you agree a price, both parties sign a Memorandum of Understanding (the standard RERA contract, also called Form F) through the Dubai REST system. At this point the buyer typically pays a 10% deposit. This is usually held by the registration trustee or the agent, not handed to the seller directly, which protects both sides.

That 10% secures the property and commits both parties. From there, you move to the transfer appointment at a registered trustee office, where you pay the remaining balance and the fees, and the title deed is issued in your name.

A few practical points worth knowing:

If you borrow, the Central Bank of the UAE sets the maximum loan-to-value, and whatever the bank will not lend becomes your down payment. These are the widely applied benchmarks.

UAE residents (expats) buying a first home under AED 5 million can typically borrow up to 80% LTV, meaning a minimum 20% deposit. For a first home priced above AED 5 million, the cap is lower (around 70% LTV), so you would put down roughly 30% or more.

UAE nationals get slightly higher limits, often up to 85% LTV on a first home under AED 5 million, so around a 15% deposit.

Non-residents buying from overseas are usually offered less leverage. Many banks lend around 50-75% LTV to non-residents, so plan for a deposit of 25-50% depending on the lender, the property, and your profile.

Second and subsequent properties require a bigger deposit for everyone, with LTV commonly capped near 60-65%, so budget for 35-40% down.

Two more things the Central Bank rules make clear: the deposit must come from your own funds and cannot itself be borrowed, and the DLD and associated fees sit on top and are not covered by the loan.

Because lender appetite varies, the exact deposit a bank asks of you can differ from these benchmarks. It is worth getting a mortgage pre-approval early so you know your real number before you shop.

Buying off-plan (directly from a developer before or during construction) works differently. Instead of one large deposit and a mortgage, you follow a staged payment plan set by the developer.

The down payment on booking is usually 10-20% of the price. After that, you pay instalments tied either to construction milestones or to a fixed calendar, up to handover. Many plans are structured so you have paid a large share by completion, with the rest due on handover, and some developers now offer post-handover plans that let you keep paying for a year or more after you move in.

This makes off-plan attractive to buyers who prefer to spread the cost, since the initial cash outlay can be lower than a mortgage deposit on a comparable ready home.

Keep these points in mind:

The deposit is not the whole story. Every buyer needs additional cash at transfer, and these costs are paid from your own pocket, not the mortgage. As a rule of thumb, budget around 6-7% of the price for the items below.

DLD transfer fee: 4% of the purchase price, paid to the Dubai Land Department, plus a small fixed admin fee. This is the largest add-on and applies to nearly every purchase.

Agency commission: typically 2% of the price plus 5% VAT on that commission.

Mortgage registration fee (if you borrow): about 0.25% of the loan amount, plus a small admin fee, paid to the DLD.

Trustee (transfer) office fee: a fixed charge, commonly around AED 4,000 (plus VAT) for properties above AED 500,000, paid at the transfer appointment.

Other smaller items can include bank arrangement or valuation fees on a mortgage, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) fee from the developer, and the first service-charge payment. None are large individually, but together they are worth planning for.

Add it up and, on a ready home bought with a mortgage, your true day-one cash is the down payment plus roughly 6-7% in fees, so a 20% deposit really means having close to 26-27% of the price available.

Numbers make this concrete. The examples below are indicative and round the fees for clarity.

Example 1, resident mortgage on a ready AED 2,000,000 apartment: 20% deposit is AED 400,000, the 4% DLD fee is AED 80,000, agency commission at 2% plus VAT is about AED 42,000, and mortgage plus trustee fees add roughly AED 9,000. Total upfront is around AED 531,000, of which the deposit is AED 400,000.

Example 2, cash purchase of a ready AED 5,000,000 villa: 10% MOU deposit on signing is AED 500,000, then at transfer you pay the AED 4,500,000 balance, the 4% DLD fee of AED 200,000, and agency commission of about AED 105,000. You need the full price plus roughly AED 305,000 in fees.

Example 3, off-plan AED 3,000,000 apartment on a 20% down plan: AED 600,000 down payment on booking, the 4% DLD fee of AED 120,000 usually paid early, and the remaining 80% spread over the construction schedule to handover.

A few tips to keep your deposit working hard: