Buying property in Dubai from India: prices, yields, LRS, Indian tax and the four decisions

Buying property in Dubai from India: what you get, what it pays, and the LRS rules

A typical 1-bedroom flat in Dubai costs ₹2.72 crore (AED 1,050,000). It earns 6.3% a year in rent before costs and 3.8% after them. A resident Indian can send up to USD 250,000 a year for it under the LRS, must pay from own money, and pays Indian tax on the rent.

This guide follows the four decisions an Indian buyer makes, in order: Dubai or India, which area, which building, and who you buy with. It covers residents in India and NRIs living in the UAE, whose rules are very different. Dubai prices are Dubai Land Department sale records and Ejari rent contracts. None of it is from adverts.

The four steps: 1. Dubai or India · 2. Which area · 3. Which building · 4. Who you buy with.

This page is information. It is not tax, legal or financial advice. Check FEMA and tax points with a chartered accountant before you remit.

Step 1. A 1-bed in Dubai against a 1BHK in Mumbai, Bengaluru or Delhi NCR

A Dubai 1-bed earns more rent on its price than a 1BHK in an Indian city: 6.3% gross against 4.3% in Mumbai.

How to read it. Gross yield is the rent divided by the price, the number most agents quote. Net yield is what is left after running costs, divided by all the cash you put in on the day. It is the honest number.

Dubai costs: service charge AED 15 per sq ft a year (Land Department index samples run AED 12 to 25), property management 6% of rent, one month empty a year, repairs 3% of rent. Buying costs are the Land Department fee (4% plus AED 580), the trustee office and an agent at 2% plus VAT. Indian costs: letting agent 0.0% of rent, one month empty a year, repairs 3% of rent, no management fee (most Indian owners let directly). Society maintenance and property tax are not in the Indian figures (no source), so Indian net yields are a little high. Indian buying costs are stamp duty and registration in that state.

The Indian figures are estimates. There is no official 1BHK price or rent: prices are the NHB price per sq ft times 600 sq ft, and rents are that price times ANAROCK's city rental yield. Read them as a guide to the gap, not as a valuation.

Sources: Dubai Land Department sale records and Ejari new leases, completed 1-bed flats, last 12 months, BUY DUBAI warehouse (28 October 2026); NHB RESIDEX, ₹ per sq ft for homes up to 646 sq ft, June 2026, times 600 sq ft; ANAROCK rental yields, Q2 2026 (published 4 August 2026), for rents (Delhi NCR = average of Gurugram and Noida); state stamp duty and registration rates (check yours). Exchange: ECB reference rates, 28 October 2026, at the fixed rate of AED 3.6725 per US dollar.

How long to get your money back: Dubai against India, after costs and tax

In JVC, the rent pays back your cash in 22 years after costs and before tax. A resident Indian in the 30% slab takes 33 years. An NRI living in the UAE pays no Indian tax on it.

The sum: cash in on the day, divided by the rent left each year after running costs and tax. It leaves out any change in the price, and any change in the rupee: over five years the rupee fell 27% against the dirham, so a Dubai flat bought in 2021 is worth more in rupees even at the same dirham price.

How Indian tax works here. A resident Indian is taxed on Dubai rent as income from house property: 30% of the rent is deducted, and the rest is taxed at your slab rate. The UAE charges no tax, so there is no foreign tax credit. An NRI is taxed in India only on Indian income: Dubai rent and Dubai gains are outside Indian tax.

What does ₹1 crore buy in Dubai? And ₹2 crore or ₹5 crore?

₹1 crore buys a studio in International City. ₹2 crore buys a 1-bed in JVC or International City. ₹5 crore buys a 1-bed in Business Bay or Dubai Marina, or a 2-bed in JVC.

₹1 crore = AED 385,654 all in

Price limit after buying costs: AED 360,999. Completed flats sold at or under that price in the last 12 months:

In India, ₹1 crore buys a typical 600 sq ft 1BHK in Bengaluru (₹74 lakh) or Delhi NCR (₹63 lakh), but not in Mumbai (₹1.61 crore) (NHB RESIDEX, June 2026).

₹2 crore = AED 771,307 all in

Price limit after buying costs: AED 722,545. Completed flats sold at or under that price in the last 12 months:

In Mumbai, ₹2 crore buys a typical 600 sq ft 1BHK (₹1.61 crore, NHB RESIDEX, June 2026).

₹5 crore = AED 1,928,268 all in

Price limit after buying costs: AED 1,813,120. Completed flats sold at or under that price in the last 12 months:

The budget is all in: price, Land Department fee, trustee office and agent. Sales are completed flats registered with the Land Department in the last 12 months, at prices at or under the limit.

The LRS limit matters more than the price. One resident person can send USD 250,000 a financial year, about ₹2.38 crore. ₹5 crore needs at least three family members, each a co-owner on the title deed. Family members can pool their limits only if each is on the title. You cannot pay with borrowed money, and a UAE mortgage counts as borrowing for a resident of India.

TCS takes cash at the start. On remittances above ₹10 lakh a year, the bank collects 20% TCS. On a full USD 250,000 that is about ₹45.6 lakh, paid on the day and set against your income tax later. Plan for it.

Indian tax and FEMA on Dubai property: LRS, rent, gains, Schedule FA

For a resident Indian, the money goes out under LRS, the rent and the gain are taxed in India, and the flat must be in Schedule FA every year.

The tax department knows. In its "Nudge" campaign the CBDT used data shared by 100+ countries to message about 25,000 people with foreign assets for 2024-25. The FAST-DS 2026 scheme lets small taxpayers declare a foreign asset not reported before, until 31 December 2026.

Coming back to India. An NRI who returns usually has 2 to 3 years as RNOR, when Dubai rent is still outside Indian tax. You may keep a flat bought while non-resident.

Sources: RBI Master Direction, Liberalised Remittance Scheme; FEMA (Overseas Investment) Rules 2022; Income-tax Act 2025, sections 6, 197, 394; Budget 2026 (TCS rates); India–UAE DTAA, articles 6, 13, 25; Black Money Act 2015, sections 42–43; CBDT press release, 27 November 2025 (Nudge); FAST-DS 2026; RBI Master Direction, remittance from NRO accounts (29 June 2026). Read 28 October 2026.

The rupee against the dirham: down 27% in five years

₹1 crore bought AED 490,500 in October 2021 and buys AED 385,700 today.

The dirham has been fixed at AED 3.6725 to the US dollar since 1997. The rupee has fallen against the dollar, so it has fallen against the dirham too: from ₹20.39 per dirham in October 2021 to ₹25.93 today. For a buyer who earns in rupees, a Dubai flat has been a hedge: it gained in rupees even when its dirham price stood still. For a buyer who must pay later instalments in rupees, a falling rupee makes each instalment dearer.

Is Dubai property a bubble? Read this before you decide

The number of sales fell by about a third from March 2026. Prices have held so far. About 206,000 new homes are due in 2027 and 2028.

Prices of completed 1-beds fell 35% from 2014 to 2020, over six years. A buyer who had to sell in that time took the loss. A buyer who held and let the flat was paid rent through it. Read is Dubai property going to crash for the numbers to watch each month, and is Dubai a good investment for Dubai against 19 other markets.

Your decision, step 1: Dubai or India?

Step 2. Which area of Dubai? Every area with enough sales, in rupees

Cheap areas pay the most rent but have grown least. Central areas cost more and pay less rent, but held their value better.

Net yield uses the same costs as the table above. The 10-year change is the price per sq ft of completed 1-beds now against the 12 months ending 10 years ago; a dash means the area had too few sales then. Areas need 90 or more 1-bed sales in the last 12 months to be in the table.

Three ways to choose:

• — Income first: the cheaper areas at the top of the table pay the most rent. Most grew least in ten years, and many buildings are older.
• — Growth first: look at the 10-year change (JVC, Arjan, Dubai Marina, City Walk), and at the new homes due in the area.
• — Easy exit: more sales a year means more buyers when you sell. JVC, Business Bay and Dubai Marina have the most.

What each area is like to live in, for your tenant: every community guide. What is selling now: what's hot and the RealEstateRanking. On a map: the Dubai map.

Your decision, step 2: which area?

Step 3. Which building: completed or off-plan, when you live in India

A completed flat can earn rent from the month you buy it. An off-plan flat costs more per sq ft, earns nothing until handover, and is often late.

For each building, read its BUY DUBAI page: every Land Department sale, the price per sq ft, rents, the developer and the agent's view. Start from the tower list. Before you pay a deposit, use the six checks. To see which developers are selling homes they are not building, read the selling but not building tracker.

Your decision, step 3: which building?

Step 4. Buying a Dubai property from India: who you need and what you sign

You can buy without living in Dubai. You need a registered agent, a bank to send the money under LRS, and a way to sign.

Signing from India. Mumbai to Dubai is under 3.5 hours, so many buyers fly in for the transfer. Or give a power of attorney: the Land Department asks for a power of attorney made abroad to be notarised, legalised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the UAE Embassy, attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and translated into Arabic.

Who to talk to first. Ask Dalia, the BUY DUBAI agent, on WhatsApp. She knows every sale, earns no commission and does not sell a listing. Send her your shortlist and your budget in rupees. A licensed broker then does the transfer.

Sources: Dubai Land Department FAQ on power of attorney (read 11 October 2026); BUY DUBAI guides (foreign ownership, home loans, agents); MEA India–UAE brief (4.3 million Indians in the UAE, April 2026).

Your decision, step 4: who do you buy with?

Questions Indian buyers ask about Dubai property