Downtown Jebel Ali has become Dubai's most active office sales location for the first time. It overtook Business Bay in Q3 2026 as newly launched off-plan projects pulled demand away from the city's established commercial districts, according to the latest office market report from Cavendish Maxwell.

The area recorded 326 transactions in the quarter, all of them off-plan, accounting for about 29% of Dubai's office sales. The two phases of Raw District by Imtiaz alone recorded 245 transactions, around 22% of all office deals in the city. Samana Business Hub added a further 81.

Business Bay ranked second with 271 transactions across both ready and off-plan stock. Jumeirah Lakes Towers came third, with activity driven almost entirely by ready units, followed by Motor City and Dubai Sports City. Together, the top five areas accounted for 78.3% of all office transactions in the quarter.

Cavendish Maxwell said the figures show office sales increasingly moving beyond the traditional business districts of Business Bay, DIFC and Jumeirah Lakes Towers. It added that limited availability of suitable stock in those established areas may also be pushing buyers elsewhere.

Price growth slows

Average office sales prices reached AED 2,005 per sq ft in Q3 2026. That is 8.9% higher than a year earlier, but prices eased slightly on a quarterly basis for the second quarter running. After double-digit annual growth through much of 2024 and 2025, the consultancy said the market is now moving into a period of consolidation. Buyers are becoming more selective, and regional geopolitical tensions are adding to caution.

As a result, Cavendish Maxwell expects pricing to depend increasingly on the quality and location of individual assets rather than following the wider market trend.

Rents moderate as some districts see fewer leases

Average office rents rose 6.5% year-on-year to AED 187.5 per sq ft per annum. Rental growth has slowed for two consecutive quarters, following a quarterly decline in Q2.

Performance varied widely across the city. DIFC led annual rental growth at 14.7%, followed by Barsha Heights (9.1%), Downtown Dubai (8.1%) and Business Bay (7.4%). Older, more peripheral locations softened, with rents in Bur Dubai and Deira falling 0.9% and 1.1% respectively.

City-wide rental contract volumes continued to grow. However, Business Bay, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Barsha Heights all recorded fewer contracts. The report said this points to softer occupier demand in parts of the market and more pressure on landlords to compete on rents and lease terms.

More than 1 million sq m in the pipeline

Around 136,400 sq m of new office space has been delivered so far in 2026, including about 44,100 sq m in Q3. This takes Dubai's total office stock to about 9.51 million sq m. A further 106,400 sq m is due by year-end, followed by about 400,000 sq m in 2027 and 528,000 sq m in 2028.

The 2028 forecast has already been revised down, with several large developments pushing completion back to 2029. The report attributes this to ongoing construction delays.

Cavendish Maxwell said the market's ability to absorb the new supply will depend on domestic business activity and on continued arrivals of international companies. Both remain exposed to regional geopolitical conditions that could make companies more cautious about expanding or relocating.

Outlook

Cavendish Maxwell described the market as adjusting to changing conditions rather than entering a broader downturn. Transaction volumes recovered in Q3 from an unusually weak Q2 but remain below year-earlier levels.

The consultancy sees the market splitting into two paths. On the investment side, off-plan launches continue to drive sales. On the occupier side, businesses are taking longer to commit to leases, and non-core locations are likely to face greater rental pressure as new supply arrives.

It expects prices and rents to stay under pressure in the near term, despite a strong economic rebound forecast for 2027 and Dubai's standing as a global business hub. It said Q4 2026 will show whether the Q3 recovery in transactions marks a genuine improvement or a temporary rebound after a subdued second quarter.

Source: Cavendish Maxwell, Dubai Office Market Report, Q3 2026.