Input Cost Series · ConstructionAugust 2026
Dubai's Cost to Build Just Repriced
Building costs for Dubai homes rose 12.9% in twelve months. Materials rose 21.8%. Wages rose nothing at all.
August 2026, version 2 · 10 pages · PDF 1.0 MB
Free with a DataDXB account.
At a glance
12.9%
residential build cost
Twelve months to June 2026
21.8%
materials
Over the same twelve months
0.0%
labour wages
Unchanged for six straight months
AED 64
of every 100 of increase
Cement, concrete, block and tile
What the data says
Key findings
01
It's an energy story, not a demand story.
Cement, concrete, block and tile account for 64% of the increase, and moved after crude rose from $64 to $98, with a one-to-two-month lag. Crude was back near $73 by July.
02
Labour contributed nothing.
Wages are 36.5% of the index and registered 0.00% for six consecutive months, which is the only reason the headline reads 12.9% rather than something materially worse.
03
Watch unit size, not price per sq ft.
The cost is reaching buyers through larger units at flat headline rates, so compare unit sizes across successive launches in the same community.
What's inside
Contents
- p. 2
The setup
Two comparisons, twelve months and six months, and why they aren't interchangeable.
- p. 3
The headline
An index that tripled its rate of climb in five months.
- p. 4
Decomposition
Where every AED 100 of extra cost went, input by input.
- p. 5
Ground truth
The same story on the supplier price list, in dirhams.
- p. 6
Transmission
How the crude oil spike reached cement, concrete and block.
- p. 7
By product type
How a tower, a townhouse and a villa carry the increase differently.
- p. 8
Who is absorbing it
Contractors, developers and buyers, and where the burden really lands.
- p. 9
The verdict
What we take from this, and how to prove this report wrong.
- p. 10
Sources
Every number, numbered.
Get the full 10-page report
Every index line, material price and cost decomposition, with sources. Sign in to download.
The author works in Dubai real estate with Hamptons International, part of Emaar Group. DataDXB is a personal project; all views and analysis are the author's own and do not represent the author's employer. This report is market commentary, not investment advice.