Data and trust
How we compute what we publish
This page sets out the definitions and principles behind every measure on the platform, and — just as importantly — what we deliberately do not compute. If a figure appears anywhere in PropertyMetric, its definition is here.
Measurement principles
Recorded activity, not asking prices
Price and rent measures are derived from recorded transactions and registered rental contracts. Advertised prices are a different category of information and are never mixed into the same calculation.
Medians, not averages
Price and rent measures use the median. A small number of very high-value transactions — common in Dubai — pulls an average away from what a typical buyer or tenant actually paid.
Segment before you aggregate
Every aggregate is computed against an explicit segment: emirate, community, property type, unit size and period. A figure that blends apartments with villas, or off-plan with ready property, describes neither.
Sample size travels with the figure
A median built on six transactions and one built on six hundred are presented differently. Where a segment is thin, the platform is designed to say so rather than present a precise-looking number.
Official records are distinguished from derived analytics
A recorded transaction is a fact about a registered event. A median, an index or a yield is a calculation applied to those facts. We keep the distinction visible because a derived figure inherits its source limitations and adds its own.
Recent periods revise
Because of reporting lag, the most recent period in any dataset is incomplete and revises upward as records are registered. The current period is never presented as a finished data point.
Full metric definitions
- Transaction value
- The total recorded value of property sale transactions in a selected market, period and segment. It is a sum of recorded sale prices, not an estimate of market size or of the value of all property stock.
- Transaction volume
- The count of recorded sale transactions in a period. Volume answers "how much activity", while transaction value answers "how much money" — a market can rise in value while volume falls if larger properties trade.
- Median sale price
- The middle recorded sale price in a set of transactions: half sold for less, half for more. The median is used instead of the average because a small number of very high-value sales can pull an average far away from what a typical buyer paid.
- Price per square foot (AED/sqft)
- A recorded sale price divided by the property’s recorded area, expressed in AED per square foot. It allows properties of different sizes to be compared, but only compares fairly within a similar property type, location and condition.
- Median annual rent
- The middle recorded annual rent in a set of registered rental contracts for a segment. Like the median sale price, it describes the typical contract rather than the average of extremes.
- Gross rental yield
- Annual rent divided by property price, expressed as a percentage. Gross yield excludes service charges, management fees, vacancy periods, maintenance, agency costs and financing — so it is a comparison tool, not a return forecast. Net yield, which deducts those costs, is a different measure.
- Off-plan share
- The proportion of recorded sale transactions in a period classified as off-plan rather than ready property. It describes the mix of recorded activity, not the proportion of built stock.
- Mortgage share
- The proportion of recorded transactions in a period associated with a mortgage registration. It is shown only where the available sample is large enough to be meaningful for the selected segment.
- Market price index
- An index tracks how price levels in a defined market segment move relative to a base period, which is set to 100. An index is designed to separate genuine price movement from changes in the mix of properties that happened to sell — so it answers a different question from "what was the median price last month".
- Sample size
- The number of records behind a displayed statistic. A median built on six transactions is a weak signal; the same median built on six hundred is a strong one. Sample size is why a figure can move sharply in a small community without the market itself moving.
- Index confidence and coverage labels
- Labels that tell you how much weight a published figure can carry, based on the number of records available for that segment and period. Where a segment is thin, the platform is designed to say so instead of presenting a precise-looking number.
- Supply versus existing stock
- Existing stock is what has already been completed. Supply, in the pipeline sense, is what registered project records indicate is still to be delivered. Adding announced projects to completed stock without distinguishing them overstates what will actually exist.
- Upcoming units
- Residential units that registered project records indicate are expected to be delivered in a future period. Expected delivery dates are planning information and can change.
- Comparable transactions
- Recorded sales of properties similar enough to a subject property — in location, type, size and recency — to inform a view on its value. Comparables are evidence for a judgement, not a substitute for one.
- Asking price versus recorded sale price
- An asking price is what a seller advertises. A recorded sale price is what a completed transaction was registered at. The two can differ materially, and only the second is evidence of what the market paid.
- Reporting lag
- The delay between a transaction happening and appearing in available records. Because of lag, the most recent period in any dataset is usually incomplete and will revise upward as records arrive.
Market indices
- Base period
- An index is expressed relative to a base period, which is set to 100. An index value is meaningless without knowing its base period, so the base is published with the index inside the platform.
- Purpose
- An index exists to separate genuine price movement from changes in the mix of properties that happened to transact. That is why an index and a median can move in different directions in the same period without either being wrong.
- Supported segments
- Indices are published for the market segments where the available sample supports them. Narrow segments carry coverage labels, and where a segment is too thin, an index value is not published for it.
- Revision policy
- Published values for recent periods revise as delayed records arrive. Revisions are applied to the series rather than applied silently to a single point, so a comparison across periods stays valid.
- Statistical method
- The exact index construction used in the application is documented with the published index inside the product. We do not publish an invented formula on this website, and we do not disclose proprietary implementation detail unnecessarily.
What we do not compute
A methodology page that only lists what a platform does is marketing. These are the measures we have decided not to publish, and the reason in each case.
- Net rental yield. It depends on the building’s actual service charge, the owner’s financing and management arrangement, and realistic vacancy for that unit — none of which market data contains.
- Rental or price forecasts. We publish recorded history and method, not predictions presented as data.
- Automated valuation model output with an accuracy guarantee. Comparables support a professional judgement; they do not replace one.
- Oversupply risk labels, unless a verified methodology relating expected delivery to absorption supports them. A large pipeline number plus an adjective is not an assessment.
- Developer performance ratings or delivery reliability scores, which would require a verified methodology and an audited delivery history.
Sources
Dubai Land Department publishes open real estate data covering categories including transactions, rents, projects, valuations, land, buildings, units, brokers and developers. Where PropertyMetric consumes official or licensed sources, they are identified accurately and subject to the applicable attribution and licensing requirements.
We do not claim a formal partnership with, or endorsement by, the Dubai Land Department or any government entity.
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