# DLD transactions: how to look up and read Dubai property sales records

Canonical page: https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/dld-transactions.html

Market Data

By [Majid Akhbar](https://firswoodproperties.ae/about/#majid-akhbar), Head of Mortgage · Updated 2 October 2026

DLD transactions are published on the [Real Estate Data](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/open-data/real-estate-data/) page of the Dubai Land Department (DLD): open the Transactions tab, enter a From Date and To Date, narrow the search by type, registration, area, usage and property type, then download the results as CSV. Each record shows the date, the procedure, whether the property was off-plan or ready, the area, the size and the amount, but no names, building names or unit numbers.

## In brief

- DLD's Real Estate Data page publishes 9 datasets: Transactions, Rents, Project, Valuations, Land, Building, Unit, Broker and Developer (DLD Real Estate Data page, updated 23 September 2026; we read it on 1 October 2026).
- The Transactions table has 22 columns and a Download as CSV link. It has no column for buyer or seller names, nationality, building name or unit number (DLD, read 1 October 2026).
- A developer must enter an off-plan sale in DLD's provisional register within 90 days of the contract being signed; a ready sale is registered at a trustee centre in 25 minutes and produces an electronic title deed (DLD service pages, read 1 October 2026).
- Of the 166,659 residential sales DLD recorded from September 2025 through August 2026, 74.7% were off-plan (Firswood analysis of DLD open data).
- The 15 busiest communities we can isolate account for 77,749 of those sales, or 46.7% (our arithmetic on the same data).

## Where to look up DLD transactions officially

Registered sales are published in more than one place. Each source does a different job, and none of them shows everything.

Official sources of Dubai Land Department transaction data, read 1 October 2026

| Source | What it offers | What it does not offer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [DLD Real Estate Data page](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/open-data/real-estate-data/) | Searchable tables for transactions, rents, projects, valuations, land, buildings, units, brokers and developers, each with a Download as CSV link | Party names; a building or unit number on a transaction; earlier years, for which the page says “For previous year data kindly visit data.dubai, an initiative by Digital Dubai” |
| [Dubai Pulse dataset dld_transactions-open](https://www.dubaipulse.gov.ae/data/dld-transactions/dld_transactions-open) (publisher: Dubai Land Department) | A CSV file which, in its own words, records “All sales, mortgage, inheritance, merge, separation and sub-separation transactions”; update frequency listed as Daily; extra fields such as the procedure name and the developer's building name | Personal data: the dataset lists “Personal Information (DNRD)” under its rights. The [API version](https://www.dubaipulse.gov.ae/data/dld-transactions/dld_transactions-open-api) needs an API key and API secret |
| [Dubai REST app](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/dubai-rest/) | A wallet for owners to conduct “property transactions (sale, purchase, lease, and mortgage)”, plus the “Rental index and the sale index in Dubai and the service charges index of the property”; in Arabic and English on Android and Apple stores | DLD's page for the app does not describe a search of other people's registered sales |
| [Residential Sales Price Index](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/open-data/residential-properties-price-index-rppi/) | DLD's index of home prices, built with a hedonic price method | Individual transactions. The latest month shown was November 2022 when we read the page |

The Dubai Pulse page shows a “Last updated” date of 26 April 2024 beside its daily frequency, without explanation. Sort any downloaded file by date and check its latest row before relying on it.

## Searching Dubai Land Department transactions, step by step

1. Open DLD's Real Estate Data page and stay on the Transactions tab.
2. Enter the From Date and To Date. Both are mandatory, and DLD gives 01-01-2024 as the format.
3. Choose the Transaction Type: Sales, Mortgages or Gifts. Leave it on All only if you want every group.
4. Set Registration type to Ready or Off Plan for one side of the market, and Is Free Hold? to Yes or No if tenure matters.
5. Pick the Area. DLD's area names often differ from marketing names; the community table further down gives the area for 15 communities.
6. Set Usage (Residential, Commercial or Other) and Property Type (Land, Building or Unit), press Search, and use Download as CSV to keep the results.

The tab has no project or building filter. To isolate one development, search its area and sort the CSV by the Master Project and Project columns. The Property Type filter offers only Land, Building and Unit, but the Dubai Pulse data dictionary also lists villa as a main type, so for villas leave the filter on All. Projects have their own tab, covered in our [DLD project status guide](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/dld-project-status.html).

## How to read a Dubai property transaction record

The table explains the columns most often misread. Quoted descriptions come from the data dictionary of DLD's transactions file on Dubai Pulse.

Columns in a DLD transaction record, with notes on reading them

| Column | What it holds | Watch for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Transaction Type | The group: Sales, Mortgages or Gifts | A mortgage or a gift is not a sale. Filter to Sales before counting sales. |
| Transaction sub type | The procedure. The dictionary's examples are pre-registration sale, delayed sale, update mortgage and release mortgage | One group holds several procedures, so two Sales rows can record different steps. |
| Registration type | Ready or Off Plan; the dictionary says “off-plan or existing properties” | The two are different registrations, explained in the next section. |
| Area | The “community name in English as per Dubai Municipality” | Often not the marketed name: JVC appears as Al Barsha South Fourth. |
| Property Type, Property Sub Type | Land, building or unit, then a sub type such as apartment, shop or office | DLD registers some villa communities' sales as land, or under commercial or other usage. |
| Amount | The registered value; the dictionary's value field, actual_worth, is “property price in the transaction” | It is a registered figure, not an asking price. |
| Transaction Size, Property Size (sq.m) | Square metres; the transaction size is “the area (size) in square meter on which the transaction was carried out” | 1 sq m = 10.7639 sq ft. For some villa projects the registered area is the plot, for others the built-up area. |
| No. of Buyer, No. of Seller | How many parties were on each side | Counts only; no names. |
| Master Project, Project | The master development and the project | The best way to separate developments that share one DLD area. |

Because villa areas are not measured consistently, we never divide a villa's amount by its registered size. Apartment medians per square foot and the monthly sales series are on our [Dubai property market](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/dubai-property-market.html) page.

## Off-plan pre-registration or title transfer

The Registration type column separates two procedures. An off-plan sale is registered by the developer: DLD's initial sale service lets a developer record “units sold off-plan” in the provisional register, through the Oqood portal. DLD allows 90 days from the signing of the contract, and the buyer is sent a provisional registration e-certificate, which is a different document from a title deed. Our [Oqood guide](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/oqood.html) covers this step and its fees.

A ready sale is a title transfer. DLD's [Property Sale Registration](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/property-sale-registration/) service handles the “registration of a sale transaction (full or partial) between the contracting parties” at a trustee centre. DLD gives the service time as 25 minutes and lists an electronic title deed and map among the outputs. Our [title deed guide](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/title-deed-dubai.html) explains what the deed proves and how to verify one.

Where most of a community's rows are off-plan, its figures describe developer launches more than resales between owners.

## What the official records do not show

- **Who bought or sold.** The table counts buyers and sellers but has no column for names or nationality.
- **Which unit.** The transactions table carries no building name or unit number. The Unit tab lists Unit Number, Building Name and Pre registration Number, but it is a register of units, not of sales.
- **Asking prices.** Every row is a registered transaction, not a listing.
- **Rents.** Tenancies sit on the separate Rents tab, which gives a Contract Amount and an Annual Amount for each contract. Our [Ejari guide](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/ejari.html) explains how leases are registered.
- **Loan terms.** A Mortgages row shows that a mortgage procedure was registered. If you are arranging finance for a purchase, see our [mortgage coordination](https://firswoodproperties.ae/services/mortgage-coordination.html) page.

## Dubai real estate transactions by community, last 12 months

We counted Sales-group transactions for apartments, villas and townhouses with residential usage, from DLD open data exported on 4 September 2026. The table ranks the 15 communities with the most sales among those our method rates high or medium confidence, against the Dubai total.

Residential sales registered with DLD by community, 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026, with each community's DLD area. Source: DLD open data, Firswood analysis.

| # | Community | DLD area in the data | Residential sales | Off-plan share | Confidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Dubai South](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-south.html) | Madinat Al Mataar | 14,673 | 90.9% | High |
| 2 | [Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC)](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/jumeirah-village-circle.html) | Al Barsha South Fourth | 13,112 | 64.2% | High |
| 3 | [Business Bay](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/business-bay.html) | Business Bay | 7,395 | 65.5% | High |
| 4 | [Dubai Islands](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-islands.html) | Palm Deira | 5,007 | 100.0% | High |
| 5 | [Jumeirah Village Triangle (JVT)](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/jumeirah-village-triangle.html) | Al Barsha South Fifth | 4,754 | 87.4% | High |
| 6 | [Motor City](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/motor-city.html) | Al Hebiah First | 4,111 | 76.5% | High |
| 7 | [Dubai Creek Harbour](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-creek-harbour.html) | Al Khairan First | 3,972 | 68.0% | High |
| 8 | [Arjan](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/arjan.html) | Al Barshaa South Third | 3,806 | 64.9% | High |
| 9 | [Dubai Production City](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-production-city.html) | Me'Aisem First | 3,535 | 76.6% | High |
| 10 | [Dubai Maritime City](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-maritime-city.html) | Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah | 3,365 | 98.9% | High |
| 11 | [Meydan](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/meydan.html) | Nad Al Shiba First; Al Merkadh | 3,245 | 65.1% | Medium |
| 12 | [Dubai Sports City](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-sports-city.html) | Al Hebiah Fourth | 3,020 | 58.6% | High |
| 13 | [Dubai Hills Estate](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-hills-estate.html) | Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid | 2,707 | 57.7% | High |
| 14 | [Downtown Dubai](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/downtown-dubai.html) | Burj Khalifa | 2,632 | 41.1% | High |
| 15 | [Dubai Silicon Oasis](https://firswoodproperties.ae/communities/dubai-silicon-oasis.html) | Nadd Hessa | 2,415 | 49.8% | High |
|  | All Dubai | All areas | 166,659 | 74.7% | Not rated |

The 15 rows add up to 77,749 sales, which is 46.7% of the Dubai total (77,749 ÷ 166,659). No community is counted twice: our Dubai South figure excludes Expo City, and Meydan excludes District One and Sobha Hartland.

Off-plan shares in the table run between 100.0% in Dubai Islands, where every sale in the window was off-plan, and 41.1% in Downtown Dubai. Dubai Marina, in 16th place with 2,228 sales, had an off-plan share of 10.3%.

Use the DLD area column to set the Area filter. For Business Bay, Dubai Islands, Downtown Dubai and JVC our count covers the whole DLD area, so the filter alone matches it. For the others we also filter on master project names: Madinat Al Mataar also holds Expo City, and Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid also holds District 7, a separate MBR City district. Meydan is rated medium because the name is used loosely for neighbouring developments.

The ranking also leans towards apartment communities. DLD registers some villa communities' sales as land, or as villas under commercial or other usage, so the Dubai total excludes 5,069 residential land sales and 826 villa sales under non-residential usage. Villa communities such as DAMAC Lagoons and Jumeirah Golf Estates have no sales count for that reason. Our [note on the DLD figures](https://firswoodproperties.ae/about/#dld-figures) sets out every filter and confidence rating.

## How we checked

Every DLD and Dubai Pulse page cited here was read on 1 October 2026; DLD's carried site update stamps of 23 or 30 September 2026. We could not open data.dubai, and the Area dropdown's options did not load for us, so the area names in the table come from the open data records themselves. Community figures are our analysis of DLD open data, not a forecast.

## Common questions

### How do I check DLD transactions?

Open the Real Estate Data page in DLD's open data section and stay on the Transactions tab. Enter a From Date and To Date, choose Sales, Mortgages or Gifts, set the registration type, area, usage and property type, and press Search. Each tab has a Download as CSV link.

### Can I see who bought a property in Dubai?

No. DLD's transactions table gives the number of buyers and sellers in each transaction, not their names, and it has no nationality column. DLD's transactions file on Dubai Pulse lists personal information under its rights.

### Can I find the sale history of a specific apartment?

Not reliably from open data. The transactions table has no building name or unit number, so you can narrow results by area, project, size and rooms but cannot tie a row to one unit. To check a seller's title deed, use DLD's Verify Title Deed service, which our title deed guide explains.

### What does Off Plan mean on a DLD transaction?

It means the sale was entered in DLD's provisional register before completion. The developer registers it through the Oqood portal, which DLD requires within 90 days of signing, and the buyer gets a provisional registration e-certificate. Ready sales are registered at a trustee centre and produce an electronic title deed.

### How many property transactions were there in Dubai in the last 12 months?

Counting residential sales only, DLD open data shows 166,659 over the year to 31 August 2026, of which 74.7% were off-plan. That count leaves out mortgages, gifts, 5,069 residential land sales and 826 villa sales registered under non-residential usage.

### Where can I find older DLD transaction data?

DLD's Real Estate Data page says: “For previous year data kindly visit data.dubai, an initiative by Digital Dubai.” DLD's transactions file is also on Dubai Pulse as a CSV, and its API version needs an API key and secret.

Our [market intelligence](https://firswoodproperties.ae/services/market-intelligence.html) page explains how we separate registered evidence from assumptions. To ask what the records show for a particular community or project, use the [enquiry form](https://firswoodproperties.ae/#contact) and name the development.

Cite as: Firswood Properties, *DLD transactions: how to look up and read Dubai property sales records*, 2 October 2026.

## Sources & further reading

Sources checked 1 October 2026.

- [Dubai Land Department: Real Estate Data (open data)](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/open-data/real-estate-data/)
- [Dubai Pulse: DLD transactions dataset (dld_transactions-open)](https://www.dubaipulse.gov.ae/data/dld-transactions/dld_transactions-open)
- [Dubai Pulse: DLD transactions API dataset (dld_transactions-open-api)](https://www.dubaipulse.gov.ae/data/dld-transactions/dld_transactions-open-api)
- [Dubai Land Department: Dubai REST](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/dubai-rest/)
- [Dubai Land Department: Residential Sales Price Index](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/open-data/residential-properties-price-index-rppi/)
- [Dubai Land Department: Property Sale Registration](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/property-sale-registration/)
- [Dubai Land Department: Request to register the initial sale](https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/request-to-register-the-initial-sale/)

## Keep reading

- [Dubai property market: DLD sales data](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/dubai-property-market.html)
- [Dubai rent prices by community](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/dubai-rent-prices.html)
- [Checking Projected Rental Yields](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/why-we-stopped-recommending-projected-yields.html)
- [How to buy property in Dubai in 2026](https://firswoodproperties.ae/insights/buying-property-in-dubai-as-a-foreigner.html)

---

Firswood Properties L.L.C, Unit 22, 20th Floor, The Prime Tower, Marasi Drive, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. RERA ORN 59926. Email info@firswoodproperties.ae, telephone +971 50 185 5699. Enquiries: https://firswoodproperties.ae/#contact