Rent or buy in Dubai: running the numbers honestly

The costs a rent figure hides

Buying adds four per cent registration duty, an agency fee, a trustee fee and a valuation on top of the price, and none of them come back when you sell. Call it five to six per cent gone on the day of purchase. A rent figure has no equivalent, which is what makes the two look closer than they are in the first year.

Five years is the honest horizon

Run the comparison over five years, not one. Over that span the purchase costs amortise, the service charges accumulate, and the rent you would otherwise have paid compounds against the mortgage interest. In most Dubai communities the crossover lands somewhere between the third and fifth year.

Use the actual service charge for the building rather than a per-square-foot average. Between an older mid-rise and a new tower with a pool deck and a concierge the difference can be half the annual figure.

When renting is the better answer

If there is a real chance you will move within three years — a contract ending, a school decision, a business that might relocate — renting wins on the numbers and wins more on flexibility. Selling inside three years usually means paying the purchase costs a second time without having earned them back.