Dubai Is Running Out of Buildings Institutions Can Buy

A listed REIT, an Abu Dhabi developer and a private fund spent the last eight months buying Dubai rental housing. They used three completely different playbooks. What they agreed on is the interesting

In May 2026, Aldar paid AED 1.1 billion for a residential development in Dubai Studio City. Six mid-rise buildings, 312 homes, a community mall and a park.

The building doesn’t exist yet. It completes in 2028.

Six weeks later, Dubai Residential REIT announced it had bought 220 townhouses at Jebel Ali Village for AED 894 million. Also a forward purchase. A…