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Dubai Property Investors Are Cautious for 12 Months, Confident for 3 Years: New Survey Data
Ask a Dubai property investor how they feel about the next year, and you will likely hear hesitation. Ask about the next three years, and the tone changes completely. That gap is the clearest story to come out of Morgan's International Realty's Dubai Property Investor Confidence Report 2026, a private sentiment study of 94 investors surveyed between April and May this year, together representing more than AED 3 billion in Dubai real estate holdings.
The timing matters. The survey ran during a stretch of heightened regional tension, exactly the kind of period where investor behavior tends to say more than market commentary does. So instead of guessing what investors were thinking, we asked them directly.
Do Investors Still See Dubai as a Safe Haven
Yes, but with more questions attached than before. 58% of respondents continue to view Dubai positively as a safe haven for capital, 29% remain neutral, and only 13% no longer see it that way. Geopolitical instability and regional conflict came up repeatedly in open ended responses, which tells us something important: investors aren't rejecting Dubai's safe haven reputation, they're just evaluating it more critically than they used to.
One respondent put it simply: "Regional stability is very important."
That single line captures where the market's head is at right now. Confidence hasn't disappeared, it's just become conditional.
How Much Cash Are Investors Holding
Liquidity has quietly become the most strategic position in the market. 51% of investors named cash and liquidity as their preferred asset class during uncertain periods, well ahead of global real estate at 27%, commodities at 13%, and equities at 9%.
This isn't fear driven. It reads more like discipline. Investors want the ability to move fast when the right opportunity appears, rather than commit capital before they have clarity. As one respondent noted, "The market was going too bullish. A correction could make investors more confident again," which suggests some of this caution is less about pessimism and more about waiting for better entry points.
Short Term Caution, Long Term Confidence
This is the headline finding, and the numbers make the case better than any commentary could.
Over the next 12 months:
- 46% expect prices to stabilize
- 36% expect prices to decline
- 18% expect prices to increase
Over the next three years:
- 60% expect prices to increase
- 31% expect prices to stabilize
- 9% expect prices to decline
Investors are not questioning Dubai's long term trajectory. They are questioning the timing. That distinction matters, because a market driven by conviction behaves very differently from a market driven by momentum, and right now Dubai looks like the former.
Does Portfolio Size Change the Outlook
Substantially, and in a consistent direction: the larger the portfolio, the calmer the outlook.
| Portfolio Value | Expect Prices to Rise (3 Years) | Plan to Sell (12 Months) |
| AED 5M to 20M | 54% | 40% |
| AED 20M to 100M | 63% | 23% |
| AED 100M+ | 75% | 0% |
Among investors with holdings above AED 100 million, every single respondent expects prices to stabilize over the next year, and none plan to sell any assets. This segment isn't reacting to headlines. They're underwriting Dubai through a multi year lens, focused on fundamentals rather than short term noise, and their conviction is the strongest of any group surveyed.
Are Investors Buying, Holding, or Selling
The dominant strategy across the market is patience, not exit. 49% of investors plan to hold their existing assets over the next 12 months, 31% plan to sell selected assets, and 20% plan to acquire additional property. That is a market reviewing its portfolio carefully, not a market heading for the door.
Where Else Are Investors Looking
Dubai remains the primary market of interest for the investors we surveyed, but capital is thinking more globally than it used to. London emerged as the strongest international market of interest, with Abu Dhabi as the leading regional alternative. Barcelona, Singapore, Paris, and Zurich also came up as relevant diversification markets.
Diversification was the leading reason investors look beyond Dubai, cited by 47% of respondents, ahead of lifestyle and residency at 20%, political and economic stability at 16%, and higher returns at 9%. In other words, investors aren't leaving Dubai for a better deal elsewhere. They're spreading exposure while keeping Dubai as the anchor.
What Investors Want Beyond Returns
Returns are still the top priority, but they're no longer the only one. Brand and developer reputation, design and architecture, service quality, and privacy are all becoming bigger factors, particularly in the prime and super prime segments.
Open ended responses also surfaced a consistent wish list: stronger broker transparency, faster and more reliable delivery timelines, better infrastructure, and more investor friendly financing and hedging tools. One investor was direct about it: "What is missing is a tool: hedging instruments against regional geopolitical volatility."
These aren't complaints about Dubai's fundamentals. They're the kind of feedback you get from a market that has matured past its early growth phase and now expects the ecosystem around it, developers, brokers, and advisors, to mature at the same pace.
What This Means for Dubai Real Estate in 2026
Put together, the data tells a coherent story. Dubai's investor base isn't cooling on the market, it's becoming more selective. Cash is being held with intent rather than fear. Larger investors are the calmest voices in the room. And the gap between 12 month caution and 3 year conviction suggests most investors see today's environment as a pause, not a turning point.
If there's one number worth remembering from this survey, it's this: 60% of investors expect Dubai property prices to rise over the next three years, even in a survey conducted during one of the more uncertain stretches the region has seen in years. That's not a market losing confidence. That's a market thinking longer term than the headlines give it credit for.
Read the full report
