A non-resident who already owns a home elsewhere and buys a £5,000,000 house in London pays £863,750 in stamp duty, 17.3 percent of the price. The same buyer pays about 6.1 percent to close on an AED 20,000,000 apartment in Dubai, and 2.25 percent in state and city mansion tax on a USD 5,000,000 condominium in New York. Dubai is not the cheapest of the three cities to buy into. New York is. Where Dubai pulls ahead is on the way out.
It matters most to a buyer whose assets and residence already sit in several jurisdictions, the profile of the owners counted in our report on how many of the world's billionaires own an aircraft. This page covers what a purchase costs to complete, hold and sell. How the market itself is performing is covered in our report on Dubai's ultra-luxury property market. Every price below is a notional worked example.
The listing price is about 94 percent of the cheque
The Dubai Land Department's own schedule sets the transfer fee at 4 percent of the sale value, split on its page as 2 percent from the seller and 2 percent from the buyer. Market convention commonly puts the whole 4 percent on the buyer, so who pays what belongs in writing before the memorandum of understanding is signed.
On top of the transfer fee, the Land Department lists a registration trustee fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT on any sale at or above AED 500,000, a title deed fee of AED 250, a map fee of AED 250 for villas and apartments, and knowledge and innovation fees of AED 10 each.
The last line is the agent. A commission of 2 percent plus 5 percent VAT is market convention in Dubai, not a regulated rate. RERA, the emirate's property regulator, licenses brokers and requires the commission to be written into the agency agreement, but it does not fix the percentage.
Worked through on a notional AED 20,000,000 purchase, where the buyer carries the full transfer fee:
- Transfer fee at 4 percent: AED 800,000
- Trustee fee with VAT: AED 4,200
- Title deed and map: AED 500
- Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 20
- Agency at 2 percent plus VAT: AED 420,000
The total is AED 1,224,720, or 6.12 percent of the price. Without the agent it is 4.02 percent.
If you are financing it, the 80 percent you have read is the wrong number
Most buyer guides quote an 80 percent loan to value ceiling for expatriates. It rarely applies to this reader, because the UAE Central Bank's Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans set the ceilings by value and by purpose.
For a first home used as the owner's residence, an expatriate can borrow up to 80 percent below AED 5,000,000 and up to 70 percent above it. For a second or subsequent property, or one bought as an investment, the cap is 60 percent for expatriates and 65 percent for nationals, at any value. Off plan property is capped at 50 percent for every buyer, whatever the price or purpose.
A buyer at AED 20,000,000 is already above the AED 5,000,000 line, and a buyer who owns a home in London or New York is buying a second property. The working ceiling for that buyer is 60 percent, or 50 percent off plan.
Registering the mortgage costs 0.25 percent of the loan amount under the Land Department's schedule. One timing detail saves money: the Land Department exempts the trustee fee when the mortgage is registered on the same day as the sale, and charges the AED 4,000 plus VAT if it is registered the next day.
What it costs every year that it sits there
Dubai is regularly described as having no property tax. That is incomplete. Dubai Municipality charges expatriate residents a housing fee of 5 percent of the annual rental value of the home, collected in twelve monthly instalments through the DEWA utility bill. UAE nationals are exempt. Where there is no registered tenancy contract, as with an owner living in the home, the fee is based on an estimated rental value rather than an actual rent. For every AED 100,000 of assessed annual rent, the fee is AED 5,000 a year. It is not a property tax, but it is a recurring charge on a home that is occupied.
Service charges are the largest recurring cost and the hardest to generalise. RERA approves a rate for each project for each budget year, and the Land Department's Service Charge Index returns it for a named building. District averages conflict too much to be useful. The reliable method is to ask for two figures before signing: the building's approved rate for the current budget year, and the master community's rate on top.
District cooling surprises owners who are not in residence. Empower, Dubai's main district cooling provider, bills consumption at AED 0.568 per refrigeration ton hour, and separately bills a demand charge of AED 750 per refrigeration ton per year for the capacity installed in the unit. Empower's own worked example puts a 6 ton unit at AED 4,500 a year in demand charges alone. That charge is levied whether or not anyone is living in the apartment, and Empower states that demand and meter charges continue during a voluntary temporary disconnection. An owner who spends eight weeks a year in Dubai pays for cooling capacity for all fifty two.
The same purchase in London and New York
The premise is one AVNET has covered in how private jet travel shapes Florida's luxury property market: a buyer who moves between cities by air weighs the total cost of owning in each, not the listing alone.
What it costs to get in, and what it costs to get out
Published taxes and fees as a share of the price, for a non-resident buyer who already owns a home elsewhere. Notional purchases in the same broad bracket.
Stamp duty with the 5% additional dwellings and 2% non-resident surcharges. On exit, Capital Gains Tax of 18% or 24% on the gain.
4% transfer fee, which the Land Department splits 2% each way but convention commonly puts on the buyer, Land Department fees, and a 2% agency fee plus VAT. No tax on an individual's gain.
State and city mansion tax on the whole price. On exit, state and city transfer taxes, plus 15% FIRPTA withholding on the amount realised for a foreign seller.
Sources: HMRC, Dubai Land Department, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, NYC Department of Finance, IRS. Dubai includes the conventional agency fee because the buyer customarily pays it; London and New York show taxes only. Sellers in all three cities also pay an agent. Bars are scaled to the largest figure shown.
London. HMRC's stamp duty bands run from zero up to £125,000, then 2 percent to £250,000, 5 percent to £925,000, 10 percent to £1,500,000 and 12 percent above that. A buyer who will own more than one residential property anywhere in the world pays a 5 percent surcharge on every band. A buyer who is not UK resident pays a further 2 percent on every band, on top of the other rates. On a £5,000,000 purchase by a non-resident who already owns a home elsewhere, the band rates become 7, 9, 12, 17 and 19 percent, which gives £8,750, £11,250, £81,000, £97,750 and £665,000: a total of £863,750, or 17.3 percent. If the same buyer is purchasing their only home, the 5 percent surcharge falls away and the bill is £613,750, or 12.3 percent.
Holding costs in London depend heavily on who owns the property. Kensington and Chelsea's Band H council tax for 2026/27 is £3,286.88. A home held by a company pays the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings as well. HMRC sets it at £75,450 for 2026/27 on a property valued between £5 million and £10 million. Dubai has no equivalent charge for company ownership.
New York. For a residential purchase in New York City at or above USD 1,000,000, the buyer pays the state's additional tax of 1 percent. At or above USD 2,000,000, the buyer also pays a supplemental tax that rises with the price. According to New York State's own instructions for the transfer tax return, the supplemental tax is 1.25 percent between USD 5 million and USD 10 million and reaches 2.9 percent at USD 25 million. The combined rate at USD 5,000,000 is 2.25 percent, or USD 112,500. The rate applies to the whole price, so a purchase just above a threshold can cost more in tax than one just below it.
The annual cost in New York is property tax. The city's Department of Finance lists the 2026 rate for Class 2 property, which includes condominiums, at 12.439 percent. It applies to an assessed value far below the sale price, because the city values condominiums as though they were rental buildings, so the real bill is best read from the unit's current tax statements.
Knight Frank's Wealth Report 2026 puts the figures in floor area. Its measure of how much prime property USD 1 million buys puts London at 32.9 square metres, New York at 33.9 and Dubai at 62.2, with Monaco at 16.0.
Selling, and the residency question
Leaving is where the three cities differ most. In Dubai, Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023 states that real estate investment income earned by a natural person, from the sale, leasing or renting of property in the UAE that does not require a trade licence, is not treated as a business activity subject to Corporate Tax, whatever the amount. An individual holding a home in their own name pays no UAE tax on the gain. The seller pays the agent and, on a mortgaged property, the Land Department's release fee of AED 1,290 plus AED 315 to the registrar.
In London, a non-UK resident individual selling residential property pays Capital Gains Tax at 18 or 24 percent on the gain, depending on income, according to GOV.UK, and must report and pay within 60 days of completion. There is no transfer tax on the seller.
In New York, the seller normally pays the state transfer tax of 0.4 percent, a further 0.25 percent on residential sales at or above USD 3,000,000, and the city's transfer tax of 1.425 percent, which together come to 2.075 percent on a USD 5,000,000 sale. The seller also pays the broker, where 5 percent is a common market convention on luxury stock. When the seller is a foreign person, the IRS requires the buyer to withhold 15 percent of the amount realised under FIRPTA, which is then credited against the seller's actual US tax.
Ownership in Dubai also carries a residency option. According to the Dubai Land Department, a property valued at AED 2,000,000 or more at the time of purchase qualifies its owner for a 10 year renewable Golden Visa. The property may be mortgaged, provided the bank issues a no objection letter. The Land Department puts the applicant's total cost at AED 9,884.75, with processing in 7 to 10 business days.
The figures above are published fees, taxes and thresholds as at September 2026. They change, and each should be confirmed with the relevant authority before a purchase.