Dubai Rental Yield Calculator
Calculate gross yield, net yield (after service charges, vacancy, and maintenance), and cash-on-cash return for any Dubai investment property. Compares against the Downtown Dubai market average.
Investment details
Adds cash-on-cash return calculation.
Gross yield
7.33%
Rent / property price
Net yield
4.77%
-2.2% vs Dubai avg (7%)
Operating expense breakdown
- Gross annual rent+AED 110,000
- Service charges (16/sqft × 750)−AED 12,000
- Vacancy (5%)−AED 5,500
- Maintenance reserve (1%)−AED 15,000
- Insurance−AED 6,000
- Net Operating Income (NOI)AED 71,500
Gross vs Net vs Cash-on-Cash — The Three Yields
Gross yield is the headline number: annual rent divided by property price. Most listings advertise this. Dubai apartments typically gross 6-9%. It overstates the real return by ignoring all operating costs.
Net yield subtracts the actual costs of running the property: service charges (the biggest line item, AED 12-30 per sqft per year), vacancy losses (4-7% typical), maintenance reserves (1% of property value), and insurance (~0.4%). Net yield typically runs 1.5-2.5 points below gross.
Cash-on-cash returnmeasures the return on the cash you actually invested — down payment plus closing costs — when you finance with a mortgage. It accounts for the leverage benefit. Dubai cash-on-cash with 25% down at 5% mortgage rates typically runs 2-6%, but the equity build-up over time isn't captured in this single metric.
For comparing investment properties: net yield is the right number. For comparing across financing structures (cash vs mortgage): cash-on-cash. Gross yield is for listings — ignore it past the first filter.
FAQs
Annual rent as a percentage of property purchase price. Two flavours: gross yield (rent ÷ price) and net yield (rent minus operating expenses ÷ price). Net yield is the real return — gross overstates by 1.5-3 percentage points.