Dubai mortgage rates are priced off two numbers: the Central Bank of the UAE Base Rate, which has stood at 3.90% since 17 September 2026, and 3-month EIBOR, which the Central Bank’s own data feed showed at 4.32138% on 9 November 2026. Variable home loans reset as EIBOR plus a bank margin, and on a AED 1.6 million, 25-year loan every 0.25 percentage point move changes the monthly payment by about AED 229.
This guide joins three stories that the press covered separately: the September hike and October hold, the reported loan-transfer rules from 1 January 2027, and Etihad Credit Bureau’s new Credit Score 3i. It covers how EIBOR works and where to check it, fixed versus variable pricing and the reversion rate, the Central Bank rules that cap what you can borrow and what you pay to leave, and a worked refinancing payback calculation. It does not list bank rates or recommend lenders.
Where the UAE Base Rate Stands in November 2026
The UAE Base Rate is 3.90%. The Central Bank raised it by 25 basis points from 3.65%, effective 17 September 2026, after the US Federal Reserve raised its Interest Rate on Reserve Balances, and held it on 28 October 2026 when the Fed held. Borrowing from the Central Bank’s standing credit facilities costs 50 basis points more, which is 4.40%.
The Central Bank’s own news feed lists both decisions: “CBUAE Raises the Base Rate by 25 Basis Points”, dated 16 September 2026, and “CBUAE Maintains the Base Rate at 3.9%”, dated 28 October 2026, on its News and Insights page. The full text of both releases could not be opened on centralbank.ae at the time of writing. The figures in the table below are therefore taken from the reports in Gulf News on 16 September, Gulf News on 28 October and Khaleej Times on 28 October.
| Decision date | CBUAE decision | Base Rate | Standing credit facilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 17 September 2026 | Previous level | 3.65% | Base Rate + 0.50 points |
| 16 September 2026 (effective 17 September) | Raised by 25 basis points, after the Fed raised IORB | 3.90% | 4.40% |
| 28 October 2026 | Held, after the Fed held | 3.90% | 4.40% |
Why the dirham peg sets the UAE rate path
The dirham is pegged to the US dollar, so the Base Rate is anchored to the Federal Reserve’s Interest Rate on Reserve Balances, as both Gulf News reports set out. In practice the UAE moves when the Fed moves, by the same amount, usually announced the same evening.
The Base Rate is the rate on the Central Bank’s Overnight Deposit Facility and a floor for overnight money market rates, not the rate on your mortgage. It reaches you through EIBOR and through the fixed rates banks set from their funding costs.
For December, Khaleej Times quoted Century Financial’s chief investment officer saying the consensus is a further 25 basis point Fed hike, to 4.00% to 4.25%. That is an expectation, not a decision.
How EIBOR Works and Where to Check It
EIBOR, the Emirates Interbank Offered Rate, is the dirham benchmark for lending between UAE banks, and the Central Bank describes it as the reference rate for mortgages, personal loans and car loans. Variable Dubai mortgages typically reset to 1-month, 3-month or 6-month EIBOR plus a fixed margin set in your contract.
The Central Bank publishes daily EIBOR fixings for overnight, 1-week, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and 1-year tenors on its EIBOR Rates page, with yearly history files going back years. The same page notes that since 15 April 2018 the Central Bank has not calculated EIBOR itself; that role passed to Thomson Reuters under Notice 2018/75, while the Central Bank continues to publish the fixings.
| Fixing date (November 2026) | 1-month EIBOR | 3-month EIBOR | 6-month EIBOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 November | 4.08860% | 4.32406% | 4.64600% |
| 3 November | 3.98590% | 4.27717% | 4.56578% |
| 4 November | 4.06526% | 4.31606% | 4.81051% |
| 5 November | 4.15389% | 4.27826% | 4.72056% |
| 6 November | 4.14250% | 4.20677% | 4.68714% |
| 9 November | 4.14647% | 4.32138% | 4.57927% |
In that week, 3-month EIBOR sat about 0.3 to 0.4 points above the 3.90% Base Rate, the premium for term over overnight money. It also moved by more than 0.1 point between fixings with no policy change.
So a 0.25 point Base Rate move does not pass one-for-one into your next reset. Your contract names the EIBOR tenor, the reset frequency and the fixing date used; read those clauses before modeling any change.
What a 0.25 Point Change Does to a Dubai Mortgage Payment
On a AED 1.6 million loan repaid monthly over 25 years, moving from 4.50% to 4.75% raises the installment from AED 8,893 to AED 9,122, an increase of about AED 229 a month or AED 2,743 a year. As a rule of thumb, each 0.25 point costs roughly AED 14 a month per AED 100,000 borrowed at these rate levels.
The loan is AED 1.6 million, which is 80% of a AED 2 million first home, the most an expatriate owner-occupier can borrow below AED 5 million under Article 3 of the Central Bank’s mortgage regulations. The term is 300 monthly payments on a reducing balance, the 25-year maximum tenor in the same article.
The rates are illustrative round numbers near current EIBOR plus a margin, not any bank’s offer.
| Illustrative rate | Monthly payment (AED) | Total interest over 25 years (AED) | Gross monthly income for 50% DBR, no other debt (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.25% | 8,668 | 1,000,343 | 17,336 |
| 4.50% | 8,893 | 1,067,996 | 17,787 |
| 4.75% | 9,122 | 1,136,563 | 18,244 |
| 5.00% | 9,353 | 1,206,032 | 18,707 |
| 6.50% (4.50% + 2 point stress) | 10,803 | 1,640,994 | 21,607 |
| 8.50% (4.50% + 4 point stress) | 12,884 | 2,265,090 | 25,767 |
Payments use the standard annuity formula, P × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)−300), where i is the annual rate divided by 12, computed in code and rounded to the nearest dirham. Over the full term, the 0.25 point difference between 4.50% and 4.75% adds about AED 68,567 of interest.
The two shaded rows matter more than the headline. The Central Bank requires lenders to stress test the debt burden ratio at 2 to 4 percentage points above the current loan rate, and the ratio cannot exceed 50% of gross income. A borrower who passes comfortably at 4.50% may still be capped by the stressed installment, so run your own figures through the UAE mortgage affordability calculator before you rely on a rate quote.
Fixed vs Variable Mortgages in the UAE After the October Hold
A fixed-rate UAE mortgage locks the rate for an initial period and then reverts to a variable rate, usually EIBOR plus a margin. A variable mortgage tracks EIBOR from day one. After the October hold, the choice turns on how long the fix lasts, what the reversion margin is, and what it costs to leave early.
Neither structure is cheaper by default. Banks price fixes from their own view of future EIBOR, so a fix offered today already reflects the December hike expectation.
| Factor | Fixed period, then reversion | Variable (EIBOR-linked) from the start |
|---|---|---|
| Payment during the first years | Known in advance | Changes at each EIBOR reset |
| Effect of a further Fed and CBUAE hike | None until the fix ends | Passes through at the next reset, not always one-for-one |
| Effect of rate cuts | No benefit until the fix ends | Benefit at the next reset |
| Stress test used for approval | The rate after the introductory period, plus 2 to 4 points | Current rate plus 2 to 4 points |
| Cost of leaving early | Fee cap applies; the regulation also refers to the actual cost to break a fixed loan | Fee cap of 1% or AED 10,000, whichever is less |
The stress test line comes straight from Article 3: where an introductory rate applies, the test must be run against the rate that applies once the introductory rate ends. A low teaser fix therefore does not buy a bigger loan. For the full eligibility picture behind these rules, see the mortgage down payment requirements for foreigners, and if you want a profit-rate structure rather than interest, compare Islamic home finance against a conventional mortgage, which is benchmarked in the same way.
The follow-on rate is the number to negotiate
The follow-on, or reversion, rate is what you pay for most of a 25-year loan, yet it gets less attention than the headline fix. Continuing the example, after three years at 4.50% the balance is about AED 1,488,705. If the loan then reverts to 3-month EIBOR of 4.32% plus an illustrative 1.50 point margin, a rate of 5.82%, the payment over the remaining 22 years rises from AED 8,893 to about AED 10,011.
The margin is fixed in your contract, while EIBOR is not. Article 4 of the mortgage regulations bars lenders from altering loan terms during the tenor unless the borrower agrees in writing, and requires the total cost of the loan over its lifetime to be disclosed. Ask for that lifetime cost on the reversion basis, not just the fixed-period payment.
Mortgage Refinancing in the UAE: Should You Move Before 2027?
Refinancing pays only if the rate saving outruns the switching cost within the time you will keep the loan. On a AED 1.49 million balance, the published Dubai switching costs come to about AED 18,400, so a 0.25 point saving takes about 85 months to pay back and a 0.50 point saving about 43 months.
The cost stack is published. The outgoing bank’s early settlement fee on a home loan is capped at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is less, and the Dubai Land Department mortgage transfer costs 0.25% of the mortgage value, AED 250 for the title deed, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees, and a AED 4,000 service partner fee plus VAT.
| Switching cost on a AED 1,488,705 balance | Amount (AED) |
|---|---|
| Early settlement fee (1%, capped) | 10,000 |
| DLD mortgage transfer (0.25%) | 3,722 |
| Title deed, knowledge and innovation fees | 270 |
| Service partner fee plus 5% VAT | 4,200 |
| Liability letter and NOC (Central Bank caps) | 235 |
| Total before the new bank’s own fees and valuation | 18,427 |
The payback figures compare the 5.82% reversion example with 5.57% and 5.32% over the remaining 264 months: savings of about AED 217 and AED 432 a month. The new lender’s processing fee and valuation are not capped and are not included, so the real payback is longer. The fee stack and documents are covered step by step in the guide to mortgage refinancing, buyouts and equity release in the UAE.
Article 4 also states that the maximum charges to refinance or repay early are the actual cost to break fixed loans and/or the fees in Regulation 29/2011, and that there should be “no impediment for borrowers to refinance with other institutions.” If your fix has years left to run, ask your lender in writing what it would charge to break it today.
What is reported about the 2027 loan-transfer rules
On 26 October 2026, Gulf News reported, citing an anonymous banking source quoted by Emarat Al Youm, that the banking sector is moving toward rules from 1 January 2027 requiring borrowers to stay with their original lender for a set period and make a minimum number of installments before transferring a loan. Arabian Business ran a similar report on 27 October, which we could not open.
These are unconfirmed. The source itself said the waiting period, the minimum installments and the implementation date “remain subject to official confirmation.” No Central Bank notice on the subject was visible on its news page at the time of writing. The open questions are:
- Which body would issue the rules, and in what form, is not stated.
- The length of the waiting period and how it would be calculated are not stated.
- The minimum number of installments is not stated.
- Whether the rules cover only personal loans or extend to mortgages and other liabilities is explicitly left open.
- Whether existing loans would be grandfathered, and what exemptions would apply, is not stated.
The report adds that banks are already competing with transfer offers that include repayment deferrals, which can raise the total cost of borrowing. Compare the total repayable under each offer.
Etihad Credit Bureau Score 3i: What Changes for Borrowers
Etihad Credit Bureau introduced Credit Score 3i on 29 October 2026. It assesses 36 months of credit behavior instead of 24 and uses two ranges: 300 to 850 for people with established credit histories, and 300 to 650 for eligible people who are new to credit or new to the UAE. Lending decisions remain with each lender.
These details are reported by Gulf News from the bureau’s media briefing; the bureau’s own websites did not load for us. The report adds that the 36 months are an assessment window, not a waiting period to recover from a default, and that buy now, pay later data is reported to the bureau but not yet used in the 3i calculation.
For mortgage applicants, older missed payments now stay in view longer, and newcomers get a score on a shorter scale. Our guide to checking your AECB credit report and score describes the previous model’s 300 to 900 scale, so a 3i score is not directly comparable with an older one.
Because a 300 to 650 score sits on a different scale, a newcomer should not read a 640 as a weak result. Ask any lender how it treats the new-to-credit range, and get a Dubai mortgage pre-approval before you commit to a property, since it shows how the bank reads your file.
A Decision Checklist for Dubai Mortgage Rates Right Now
These questions sort the scenarios; they are not recommendations, and the answer depends on your contract, income and horizon.
- If you are on a variable loan, find the EIBOR tenor, reset frequency and margin in your contract, then apply the AED 14 per AED 100,000 rule to see what one more hike would cost you.
- If your fixed period ends within a year, get the reversion rate in writing and compare it with a fresh fix or a buyout using the full switching cost.
- If you are considering a buyout, divide the total switching cost by the monthly saving and compare the months with how long you will keep the loan and the property.
- If you are waiting for the 2027 transfer rules, note that nothing is confirmed, including whether mortgages are covered.
- If you are new to the UAE, pull your Etihad Credit Bureau report before applying and expect your score on the 300 to 650 range.
- If you are weighing whether to borrow at all, compare interest at today’s rates with the opportunity cost of cash, as set out in the mortgage versus cash purchase comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Dubai mortgage rates right now?
There is no single published rate. Variable loans are priced as EIBOR plus a bank margin, and 3-month EIBOR was 4.32138% on 9 November 2026 according to the Central Bank’s EIBOR page, with the Base Rate at 3.90%. Fixed rates are set by each bank, so compare offers on their reversion rate and total cost, not the headline.
What is the UAE Base Rate in November 2026?
The Base Rate is 3.90%. The Central Bank raised it from 3.65% effective 17 September 2026 and held it on 28 October 2026, mirroring the US Federal Reserve. Standing credit facilities are priced 50 basis points above it, at 4.40%.
Where can I check the current EIBOR rate?
The Central Bank of the UAE publishes daily fixings for overnight, 1-week, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and 1-year EIBOR on its EIBOR Rates page, with downloadable yearly history. Thomson Reuters has been the calculating agent since 15 April 2018, and the Central Bank continues to publish the data.
Is a fixed or variable mortgage better in the UAE?
Neither is better by default. A fix gives payment certainty for its term and then reverts to EIBOR plus a margin; a variable loan passes hikes and cuts through at each reset. The Central Bank stress tests introductory fixed rates at the rate that applies after the fix ends, so a low fix does not increase how much you can borrow.
How much does a 0.25% rate rise add to a Dubai mortgage?
On a AED 1.6 million loan over 25 years, moving from 4.50% to 4.75% adds about AED 229 a month, AED 2,743 a year and roughly AED 68,567 of interest over the full term. At these rate levels that is about AED 14 a month per AED 100,000 borrowed.
What does it cost to refinance a mortgage in Dubai?
The early settlement fee is capped at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is less, and the Dubai Land Department charges 0.25% of the mortgage value plus AED 270 in fixed fees and a AED 4,000 service partner fee plus VAT. The new bank’s processing fee and valuation are extra and uncapped.
What are the UAE loan transfer rules for 2027?
They are unconfirmed. Gulf News reported on 26 October 2026, citing an anonymous banking source, that from 1 January 2027 borrowers may have to stay with their lender for a set period and pay a minimum number of installments before switching. The waiting period, installment count, issuing authority and whether mortgages are covered have not been announced.
What is the Etihad Credit Bureau Credit Score 3i range?
As reported by Gulf News from the bureau’s 29 October 2026 briefing, the range is 300 to 850 for people with established credit histories and 300 to 650 for eligible people new to credit or new to the UAE. The model looks at 36 months of behavior instead of 24.
What is the maximum mortgage term and loan-to-value in Dubai for expats?
The maximum tenor is 25 years. An expatriate buying a first home worth less than AED 5 million can borrow up to 80% of its value, 70% above AED 5 million, 60% on a second or investment property and 50% off plan, with total financing capped at seven years of annual income.
Official Sources
- Central Bank of the UAE – News and Insights (Base Rate decisions of 16 September and 28 October 2026)
- Central Bank of the UAE – EIBOR Rates and EIBOR history
- CBUAE Rulebook – Mortgage Loans Regulation, Article 3: Important Ratios
- CBUAE Rulebook – Mortgage Loans Regulation, Article 4: Disclosure and Transparency
- CBUAE Rulebook – Amendments to Appendix 2 of Regulation No. 29/2011 (fee caps)
- Dubai Land Department – Mortgage transfer application and fees
- Gulf News – UAE Central Bank raises base rate to 3.9% (16 September 2026)
- Gulf News – UAE keeps key interest rate unchanged in October (28 October 2026)
- Khaleej Times – UAE Central Bank keeps benchmark rate unchanged (28 October 2026)
- Gulf News – UAE banks set to introduce new rules on loan transfers from January 2027 (26 October 2026)
- Gulf News – Etihad Credit Bureau launches Score 3i (29 October 2026)
Information is current as of 9 November 2026. Base Rate levels and the standing facility spread are from Gulf News and Khaleej Times, because the Central Bank’s release texts would not open; EIBOR fixings are from the Central Bank’s own data. The loan-transfer rules are an unconfirmed press report, and the Credit Score 3i ranges come from Gulf News because the bureau’s websites did not load.
Payment and payback figures are calculations on stated assumptions, not quotations, and registration fees are for Dubai only. This article is not financial advice; take independent, licensed advice before choosing or switching a mortgage.
This guide is for informational purposes only. UAE regulations and fees are subject to change. Always verify current requirements with the relevant official authority before proceeding with any application or transaction.
