# Dubai property purchase cost calculator

> Work out the full cash needed to buy a home in Dubai: the 4% DLD transfer fee, title deed and trustee fees, agency commission, mortgage registration and your deposit, each traced to the rule that fixes it.

Source: https://www.askeric.io/tools/dubai-purchase-costs

## The short answer

On a ready home bought through an agency, budget the deposit plus roughly 6% to 7% of the price in cash. None of it can be added to the mortgage.

The calculator itself is on the page: https://www.askeric.io/tools/dubai-purchase-costs. It is free, needs no account, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.

## How it works

- The Land Department charges 4% of the sale value to register a transfer. The law splits that equally between buyer and seller unless the contract says otherwise, and in practice a Dubai buyer is usually asked to carry all of it, so the calculator defaults to 100% and lets you change the share.
- Alongside the 4% sit fixed charges collected in the same transaction: the title deed certificate, the map fee, a property-type fee, and the knowledge and innovation fees. The calculator uses the top of that range so the total is never short.
- The registration trustee charges AED 4,000 plus VAT at a sale value of AED 500,000 or more, and AED 2,000 plus VAT below it.
- Agency commission is a market norm rather than a regulated cap: usually 2% plus VAT on a resale, negotiable, and normally paid by the developer rather than the buyer on an off-plan purchase.
- If you are borrowing, registering the mortgage costs 0.25% of the loan plus a small admin fee, and your deposit is set by the Central Bank's loan-to-value ceiling for your buyer type.
- Since 1 February 2025 the transfer fee and commission cannot be folded into the loan, because the loan-to-value cap is measured against the property value. They are cash on top of the deposit.

## What it assumes

- Fees are quoted at the published rate. The Land Department can assess its own value for the property if the stated price looks under-stated, and the fee follows that assessment.
- Bank arrangement, valuation and insurance charges are excluded: they vary by lender and this page will not guess at them.
- Conveyancing, developer NOC charges and any apportioned service charge are excluded for the same reason.
- This is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice.

## Related reading

- [The DLD transfer fee, explained](https://www.askeric.io/blog/dld-transfer-fee-explained)
- [Buying property in Dubai](https://www.askeric.io/blog/buying-in-dubai)
- [The running costs of owning property in Dubai](https://www.askeric.io/blog/running-costs-of-owning-property-in-dubai)

## Sources

- [Executive Council Resolution No. (30) of 2013 Approving Fees of the Land Department](https://dlp.dubai.gov.ae/Legislation%20Reference/2013/ECR%2030%20of%202013.html)
- [Dubai Land Department: Property Sale Registration](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/property-sale-registration/)
- [Central Bank of the UAE Rulebook: Article (3) Important Ratios, Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans](https://rulebook.centralbank.ae/en/rulebook/article-3-important-ratios)

Rules last checked 2026-08-25.