Dubai’s commercial property market heading for major reset

A view of Emirates Towers and neighboring areas. Dubai commercial real estate has grown in 2025 but for more than 15 years has not kept pace with the residential market on luxury design & construction.

Dubai’s commercial real estate sector is heading for a major reset, which will see a two-tier office market emerge by 2028, with older buildings facing pressure as new Grade A properties command premium pricing.

While commercial real estate has seen significant growth this year, climbing 77.9 percent in terms of sales value and 35.1 percent in transaction volume over the first 11 months, for more than 15 years it has not kept pace with the residential market in adopting luxury design and construction quality.

Since 2008, Dubai has not seen a real new generation of office buildings,” said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties. “In contrast, the residential market went through a major transformation—new design language, new architecture, new luxury standards, and new construction codes. The commercial sector did not have a reset, but that’s now on the way. The first wave of next-generation Grade A offices will only start handing over from 2028 onward. That will be the moment of truth, as we see how secondary offices perform when tenants finally have modern, efficient, architecturally relevant options. “The gap between old and new will widen, and the entire commercial sector will reprice itself around quality, creating a two-tier office market, with older buildings facing pressure as new Grade A properties command premium pricing.

Al Msaddi points to Vision Tower in Business Bay as one of the clearest indicators of demand for real Grade A office space in Dubai. “It has consistently outperformed the market because it attracts real, established corporates,” he said. “The smallest unit is a half-floor, which naturally filters for serious companies, and the performance of that building tells you exactly how strong true Grade A demand really is.”

Data from DXBinteract shows there has also been impressive growth in the commercial market over the first 11 months of the year.

Total commercial real estate sales value reached Dh15.5 billion, a 77.91 percent leap from Dh8.7 billion last year, while overall transaction volume rose by 35.1 percent from 3,970 deals last year to 5,364.