How to check the market rent for your property
This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the official source for your emirate before you act.
Compare your rent with similar units in the same building, with the same number of bedrooms and a similar size. In Dubai also check the DLD rental index, because it limits increases at renewal. Treat any result as an estimate, because listing prices are asking rents, not signed ones.
A method that works
- Write down your unit: building, bedrooms (a studio counts as zero), size in square feet, floor and view.
- Find listings in the same building with the same bedrooms and a size within about 25% of yours.
- If there are fewer than about five, widen to the same bedrooms in the same area, and say so when you quote the figure.
- Use the middle value (the median), not the highest or the lowest. One unusual listing can distort the average.
- Adjust for floor, view and condition by eye, and note it.
Worked example
Five one-bedroom listings of 750 to 850 sq ft in your building: AED 70,000, 72,000, 75,000, 78,000 and 95,000. The median is AED 75,000. The AED 95,000 listing is an outlier, probably a high floor or a renovated unit. If your rent is AED 68,000, you are about 9% below the median.
What to do with the answer
- Dubai: the DLD rental index decides how much you can raise at renewal. See the Dubai rent increase page.
- Abu Dhabi: ADREC property is under a 0% cap at renewal since June 2026, so the market figure shows what you could charge later, not today.
- New tenancy in Dubai: the market figure helps you set the starting rent.
Mistakes to avoid
- Comparing a whole island or district when your building has its own market.
- Ignoring size and floor.
- Treating one listing as the market.
- Quoting an asking rent as if tenants pay it.
How DOSH helps
DOSH compares your rent with live listings for your building, bedrooms and size, and shows the basis for the estimate. If your building has too few listings, it says so and widens the search clearly. It is an estimate, not a valuation.
Frequently asked questions
Are portal prices the real rent?
They are asking rents. Signed rents can be lower or higher, so use several listings and the median.
How often should I check?
Before every renewal, and whenever you set a rent for a new tenancy.
Is the DLD index the market rent?
It is the official reference for renewal increases in Dubai, based on similar units. It is not the same as current asking rents.
What if my building has very few listings?
Widen to the same bedrooms in the area, label the result as an area figure, and treat it with more caution.