Economy Middle East reported that W Capital Real Estate Brokerage based its first-half commercial property research on Dubai Land Department data.

Dubai Land Department data showed H1 2026 commercial property transactions at AED19.The 5 billion, or $5., according to W Capital.31 billion, across 3,415 deals, a 183 percent year-on-year rise in transaction value.

The half-year total was 7.7 percent above all commercial property sales recorded in 2025, with W Capital Real Estate Brokerage's research placing the record inside Dubai's corporate expansion cycle.

W Capital characterised the office and retail concentration as evidence of company demand for operating space alongside investor demand for commercial assets.

Office Deals Carried Most Of The Value

Dubai Land Department data listed office properties at more than 81 percent of total commercial real estate sales value, with the segment reaching AED15.8 billion from 2,569 transactions.

Dubai Land Department data also listed retail units at AED3.7 billion from 846 transactions in the first-half period.

The office-heavy mix connects the commercial property record to Dubai's regional-headquarters economy because commercial space demand follows company formation, staff growth and operating footprint.

W Capital linked the record to multinational corporations, financial institutions, technology firms and professional services companies establishing or expanding regional operations in the emirate, including technology and professional services tenants.

Average deal size also moved higher.

W Capital's research showed the average commercial transaction value at nearly AED5.7 million in H1 2026, up from about AED2.8 million in H1 2025.

Higher average ticket sizes keep premium offices and strategically located commercial assets at the centre of the transaction story.

Off-Plan Offices Took The Larger Share

Within the office segment, Dubai Land Department figures broke out AED13 billion in off-plan offices across 1,668 transactions, while ready office space accounted for AED2.7 billion.

Off-plan retail properties recorded AED2.5 billion, compared with AED1.1 billion from completed retail units.

The off-plan balance moves developers' future pipeline near the centre of the market.

W Capital's research identified modern design, sustainability standards, smart technologies and flexible workspaces as features in new commercial projects, while Grade-A office scarcity remained part of the explanation for rental growth and capital appreciation.

Tenants and developers are therefore looking at both the volume of sales already signed and the specifications attached to future commercial space.

Walid Al Zarooni, chairman of W Capital Real Estate Brokerage, said the market was being driven by business activity, corporate presence, employment levels and sustained international investment, not a speculative cycle.

His comments put developer discipline on the premium-office pipeline because new supply has to keep pace with Dubai's long-term economic growth.

Grade-A Supply Is The Constraint

For investors and occupiers, the record sales figure does not remove the main operating constraint: W Capital still identified limited Grade-A office availability.

Higher transaction values can attract more development, but office users need deliverable space with the design, sustainability and workplace flexibility that global companies require.

The evidence is strongest on transaction value, deal count and the off-plan split.

District-level vacancy rates and a completion timetable for the next wave of premium offices remain outside the public record, leaving supply delivery as the material gap in whether H1's record becomes usable corporate capacity.