Net yield is what a Dubai unit actually earns once the building stops bleeding you. The number is almost always 150-250 basis points below the gross yield advertised in the listing.
Net yield is annual rent minus all operating expenses (service charge, chiller, maintenance, management fee, vacancy provision) divided by the purchase price. The mortgage is excluded — net yield is a property-level return metric, not a leverage-level one. For the leverage-adjusted version, use cash-on-cash or ROC.
On a typical AED 1M JVC studio renting at AED 62k gross, the stack strips out AED 9k service charge, AED 2.5k maintenance, AED 3k management, AED 2.4k vacancy — leaving net rent of roughly AED 45k against AED 1M, a net yield of 4.5%. The listing showed 6.2% gross. Both numbers are true. Only one of them pays you.
Net yields across Dubai ready-market segments that I see consistently: JVC studios 4.5-5.5%, Business Bay 1BRs 4.2-5.0%, Dubai Marina 1BRs 3.8-4.8%, Palm Jumeirah premium units 2.5-3.5%. Lower service charge clusters on the outer edges (Dubai South, DAMAC Hills 2) can push net yields toward 6.5%, but pipeline risk runs higher there.
Net yield against a UAE risk-free rate. That’s the real comparison.
Related: Gross Yield, Rental Yield, Net Cash Flow, ROC.
Run the numbers on a real Dubai unit
Yield calculators only help if they run on realistic cost inputs. Our team maintains live inventory across Dubai, RAK, and Abu Dhabi — including the kind of data most brochures don’t volunteer. Request a live pricing sheet or browse available units.
