Buyer Price-Drop Expectations in UAE Ease to 63% in May 2026: Property Finder

The gap between what UAE buyers expect to pay and what sellers are asking narrowed again in May 2026, according to Property Finder's latest consumer sentiment analysis. The share of buyers expecting prices to fall eased to 63%, down from a peak of more than 70% at the onset of the regional conflict, a second consecutive monthly decline, while sellers' advertised prices held close to pre-conflict levels.

Before the conflict, buyer sentiment was broadly balanced. Property Finder's January to February 2026 consumer sentiment poll showed buyers split almost evenly: 36% expected prices to fall, 35% expected them to rise, and 29% thought they would hold steady. Once the conflict began, a larger share of buyers moved toward expecting price adjustments, adopting a more cautious approach as they assessed market conditions. That share has eased each month since, reaching 63% in May.

Sellers, by contrast, have moved only marginally. Property Finder's proprietary listing price index shows advertised asking prices sitting approximately 2% below pre-conflict levels in May, compared with roughly 1% below in April. The gap is closing steadily, as buyer sentiment aligns more closely with seller pricing, a natural process of market recalibration.

Cherif Sleiman, Chief Revenue Officer at Property Finder, said, "When buyers and sellers sit far apart on price, deals take a pause, and that distance is exactly what's narrowing now. What matters is how it's narrowing: through expectations settling, not through panic on either side. A market where more people expect prices to hold is steadier ground than one swinging between fear and optimism, and that steadiness usually has to come first. Typically, the two sides close that gap before deals start picking up again, not after; which is why we watch this behavioral pattern as closely as the transaction numbers itself."

Demand has not declined so much as redirected. The volume of new rental contracts in May was only 20% below pre-conflict levels, recovering from 32% below in March. Nearly half of all rental activity in May, 47%, consisted of people actively moving into new homes rather than renewing existing leases, up from 41% in March.

On the ground, the sentiment from brokers mirrors the data. Alessia Sheglova, CEO of Dacha Real Estate, said, "From what we are seeing on the ground, this is not a market defined by panic, but by a more disciplined approach from both buyers and sellers. Buyers are negotiating harder and are much more data-driven, but they are also realising that well-priced and desired properties are not being heavily discounted. Sellers, on the other hand, are still holding relatively firm, especially where the property is in a strong location or priced sensibly. The gap is closing, but it is closing through more realistic expectations rather than a sharp correction." Sam McCone, Managing Partner of McCone Properties, added that while buyers initially opened with aggressive lowball offers expecting widespread seller distress, that approach is now fading as buyers recognise that well-priced properties are transacting and the deals that stalled earlier in the year are starting to close once both sides accept where value actually sits.

The Property Finder data is consistent with a broader signal the market has been sending through June. At the Emirati Media Forum, Emaar's Mohamed Alabbar revealed he had set aside AED 5 billion to acquire distressed real estate assets during the period of regional uncertainty, and found nothing to buy. Taken together, the two data points tell the same story: the UAE property market has absorbed a significant external shock without producing the distressed conditions that typically follow one. Buyer sentiment is recovering. Seller pricing has held. And the pipeline of serious transactions is building again from a position of underlying stability rather than forced adjustment.