If you’ve been eyeing a home in Expo City Dubai but didn’t want to pay for it all upfront, there’s good news. Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has teamed up with Expo City Dubai to offer home financing for properties that are still under construction, making it easier for buyers to get into the market early without draining their savings.
This is a big deal for anyone tracking Dubai’s off-plan property investment scene. Off-plan buying has always been attractive because prices are usually lower before a project is finished. But financing such properties has traditionally been trickier than buying something that’s already built and ready to move into. DIB’s new deal with Expo City Dubai aims to close that gap.
How does off-plan home financing in Dubai actually work here?
The structure is fairly specific, so it’s worth breaking down. According to DIB, a project first needs to be at least 35% complete before financing kicks in. On top of that, the buyer must have already paid at least 50% of the purchase price out of pocket.
Once those two boxes are ticked, DIB steps in and can finance up to 50% of the property’s value. That means buyers aren’t carrying the full weight of the payment plan alone during construction — the bank shares part of the load once enough progress has been made and enough of the price has already been covered.
Repayment is also designed with construction timelines in mind. Full monthly instalments only start once the property is handed over, or within 24 months of taking the financing, whichever happens first. So buyers get some breathing room before the repayments become a regular feature of their monthly budget.
For those planning long-term, DIB is offering financing terms stretching up to 25 years. That’s a long runway, and it’s subject to the bank’s usual eligibility, credit and regulatory checks, along with final approval.
Who can actually apply, and why does this matter for the UAE property market?
One of the more notable details here is who qualifies. This isn’t limited to UAE nationals living and working in the country. DIB says the offer is open to UAE nationals, residents, and even non-residents. And unlike many home finance products in the UAE, this one does not require a salary transfer to the bank.
That combination — no salary transfer requirement, plus eligibility for non-residents — potentially widens the pool of buyers quite a bit. It could appeal to overseas investors who want exposure to Dubai real estate without relocating, as well as UAE-based residents who prefer to keep their salary account elsewhere.
DIB describes itself as the world’s leading Islamic financial group and the largest Islamic bank in the UAE, and this partnership fits into a broader strategy of growing its Home Finance business by linking up with major developers and government-related entities across the country. Expo City Dubai, the site that hosted Expo 2020 and has since been repositioned as a mixed-use district, is exactly the kind of large-scale, government-backed development that fits that strategy.
For prospective buyers, the practical takeaway is this: if you’re considering a unit in Expo City Dubai that’s still being built, you now have a financing route that doesn’t require waiting until the building is complete. You’ll need to have a decent chunk of the purchase price ready to pay yourself first, since the 50% buyer contribution and 35% construction threshold are non-negotiable starting points. But once those are met, the bank financing and flexible repayment start date can make the numbers much more manageable.
What to watch next is how DIB structures similar partnerships with other major developers across Dubai and the wider UAE, and whether this model of financing off-plan purchases before full construction becomes more common across the Islamic banking sector. Demand from both residents and overseas investors who want a foothold in Dubai’s property market, without the salary transfer requirement, will likely be the real test of how popular this approach becomes. For now, this announcement, reported by WAM, gives buyers one more concrete option as they weigh their next move in Dubai’s property market.
