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Buying A Home In Dubai? Check Who Actually Delivered and Who Is Handing Over Next.

29 Sep 2026 · By Hyder

Dubai real estate has had its fair share of swings over the years. The ground reality is that construction continues, and developers are delivering units.

One question that is regularly being asked is -

Will 2026 shape up to become Dubai's biggest handover year since 2008?

The headlines do not tell you whether a project you have been considering is a part of it or not.

Some developers deliver in waves, while others are still building toward their pipeline and looking to land on schedule. The bigger question is: Are you selecting a project on a launch date pulled in by promise, or are you weighing a developer's history of keeping that promise?

Let's take a closer look at historical momentum to get a clear picture.

2025: A Record Year

Developers in Dubai handed the keys over for roughly 40,400 residential units in 2025. Statistically, one of the busiest delivery year of the current cycle.

If you were to look closely, and compare the developers, you would see that there was a level of unevenness in the inventory that got landed amongst them.

Developer Delivery Breakdown

BINGHATTI

The group accounted for more than a fifth of all deliveries, a remarkable statistic. The developer closed out seven project handovers in 2025, which by its own count made up over 20% of all new completions in Dubai that year.

Binghatti Aurora (3d render)

f you're weighing a Binghatti project against any other developer, this is the volume you should be looking for. The group is known to deliver often, and in the mid-market apartment segment, with a track record that runs longer than most.

SOBHA

In the first half of 2025 alone, nearly 42% of all citywide handovers were concentrated in just three areas:

  • JVC

  • Sobha Hartland and

  • MBR City

If your project sits inside Hartland you are buying into the one community Sobha prioritised getting right, and on time.

EMAAR

The landmark developer handed over towers at Emaar Beachfront, including Beach Mansion in December and Palace Beach Residence in October of 2025.

Emaar Beachfront (3d render)

Simultaneously, they launched 48 new residential projects across other communities.

DAMAC

The first homes at Damac Lagoons, the Santorini cluster, were handed over in November 2025, with 513 homes delivered across the community by year-end. Small relative to the roughly 8,000 units planned across Lagoons' 11 clusters, but it set the pattern for what becomes the defining handover story of 2026.

Other developers were a part of the immense number of deliveries in 2025, but the above defined most of the momentum. 2026 is where the pace changes.

2026: Dubai's Biggest Delivery Year Since 2008

Dubai delivered roughly 24,800 units in the first half of 2026.

Up 37.6% year-on-year

There are another 32,000 expected in the second half; that puts the year's total near 55,600 handovers. The most volume in deliveries since 2008. Some analysts say the number could be higher, but there is a gap between what was launched and the actual numbers being handed over this year.

BINGHATTI

Binghatti kept the pace going into 2026. Delivering around 1,700 units in the first half alone, including:

  • Binghatti Apex

  • Binghatti Ghost

  • Binghatti Ivory

They have 15 project handovers planned for the full year, with an estimated worth of AED 15 billion. As a home buyer there's something here that you can rely on, execution on volume year-on-year.

SOBHA

The developer set an all-time delivery record of 6,819 units, spread across Hartland, Hartland II, Reserve, Sobha One and Verde. One of their biggest years yet.

Sobha One's five towers in Ras Al Khor are slated for Q4 2026 completion; if that's the project you're watching, the fourth quarter is when to expect keys.

DAMAC

Here's the list that matters if you bought into a Damac property.

  • Damac's Lagoons moved from first handovers to a mass handover phase.

  • Costa Brava's two clusters finished between April and August.

  • Malta's two clusters between April and June

The developer is targeting roughly 6,300 more homes across the community by year end, more than ten times what it delivered in 2025. If you bought into Lagoons early, this is the year most of your neighbours actually move in.

EMAAR

Emaar spread its 2026 completions across more communities than any other developer here: more towers at Beachfront, including Beachgate by Address in December.

Other handovers included:

  • Dubai Hills Estate

  • Dubai Creek Harbour

  • Emaar South

  • The Valley.

There's obviously a lot more across the board, from so many other developers in the city. Being one of the biggest delivery years in over a decade, everyone is looking at 2027 where the pipeline may get genuinely uncertain.