Real Estate Agent Commission in Ajman, Dubai & Sharjah: Official Rates Explained + Calculator

How real estate commission works in the UAE

Across all three emirates covered here, one fact surprises most first-time buyers and tenants: no regulator sets a legally fixed commission percentage. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) and its regulatory arm RERA, the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department (SRERD), and the Ajman Department of Land and Real Estate Regulation (AjmanRe) all require agents to be licensed and transactions to be documented, but the commission percentage itself is a matter of market custom and negotiation between the agent and their client, not a statutory rate.

What regulators do enforce is the requirement to use a licensed broker and to document the agreed commission in writing — typically within the sale or tenancy contract itself, or a separate signed agency agreement — so that there is no ambiguity about who owes what to whom once a deal closes.

Dubai: official commission rates & rules

Dubai's real estate sector is regulated by the Dubai Land Department (DLD), with RERA (the Real Estate Regulatory Agency) as its regulatory arm overseeing broker licensing. While the DLD does not legally mandate a specific commission figure, the near-universal market standard is:

• Sales: 2% of the sale price, plus 5% VAT on that commission amount. On a resale transaction, this is conventionally paid by the buyer, though the split is negotiable and can be agreed differently.
• Rentals: typically 5% of the annual rent for most residential tenancies, ranging up to around 10% depending on the property and agreement (commercial tenancies may also attract VAT on the rent itself).

Dubai also requires transactions to be documented on RERA-approved standard forms — commonly referenced as Form A (the property listing agreement between seller and agent), Form B (the agreement between a buyer and their representing agent), and Form F (the standard tenancy contract used to register rental agreements with Ejari). Only RERA-licensed brokers are permitted to represent buyers, sellers, landlords or tenants in a registered transaction.

Sharjah: official commission rates & rules

Sharjah's real estate sector is regulated by the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department (SRERD). As in Dubai, commission is market-driven rather than fixed by regulation, with the standard figures being:

• Sales: around 2% of the purchase price plus 5% VAT on the service fee, though this is negotiable and buyers or sellers with larger transactions or exclusive representation agreements can often bring it down toward 1-1.5%.
• Rentals: commonly 4-5% of the annual rent.

One distinction worth flagging for Sharjah specifically: tenancy contracts are also subject to a separate attestation fee (commonly cited at around 4% of the annual rent, with a minimum of roughly AED 500), which is a government registration charge, not agent commission — the two are easy to conflate on a single move-in cost sheet. Renewal fees are separately regulated, and agents or landlords are not permitted to impose mandatory renewal fees unless specifically agreed in the original tenancy contract.

Ajman: official commission rates & rules

Ajman's real estate sector is regulated by the Ajman Department of Land and Real Estate Regulation (AjmanRe), also referred to in some materials as the Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency. As with Dubai and Sharjah, there is no fixed legal commission percentage; the prevailing market standards are:

• Sales: around 2% of the property price as a starting point, with room to negotiate down to roughly 1.5% on larger transactions or with exclusive representation.
• Rentals: commonly around 5% of the annual rent.

Importantly, this agent commission is a completely separate cost from AjmanRe's own registration/transfer fee charged when a title deed is issued or updated — covered in detail in our guide to the Ajman title deed process. AjmanRe also caps mandatory tenancy renewal fees at a maximum of 5% of the annual rent where such a fee is charged, protecting tenants from open-ended renewal charges.

Figures above are market-practice guidance, not statutory rates. See the References section below for official regulator sources.

Commission calculator

Use the calculator below to estimate the agent commission on a sale or annual rental in Ajman, Dubai or Sharjah, based on the market-standard ranges above. It's an estimate for planning purposes only — always confirm the exact agreed rate with your licensed broker in writing before signing anything.

Who actually pays the commission?

In all three emirates, who pays the commission is a matter of agreement, not law. That said, well-established market conventions exist:

• On a resale sale transaction, the buyer conventionally pays the agent's commission, though it's increasingly common for both sides to have their own representing agent, each earning commission from their own client — this is exactly what Dubai's Form A/Form B system is designed to formalise.
• On a rental, the tenant most commonly pays the agent's commission, though landlord-paid arrangements do occur, particularly when a landlord has an exclusive listing agreement with an agency.
• On a new, first-sale unit bought directly from a developer, commission is typically built into the developer's own marketing costs and paid by the developer to the selling agent — the buyer usually doesn't pay a separate agent fee in this scenario.

Whatever the arrangement, get it in writing before you view properties or sign anything — a verbal understanding about who pays is the single most common source of commission disputes.

Commission vs government registration fees

Agent commission is frequently confused with the land department's own registration or transfer fee, but they are entirely separate costs paid to different parties for different services:

• Agent commission is a private fee paid to a licensed brokerage for finding, negotiating or facilitating the deal.
• Government registration/transfer fee is a public fee paid to the relevant land department to legally register the change of ownership — for example, AjmanRe's registration fee (roughly 2% for UAE/GCC nationals, 3% for other nationalities, plus a fixed AED 350 title deed issuance fee, as detailed in our Ajman title deed guide), or the Dubai Land Department's well-known 4% transfer fee.

Budgeting for a purchase in any of the three emirates means adding both costs separately, not assuming one substitutes for the other.

How to negotiate commission

• Ask early, in writing. Get the agent's commission rate and who is expected to pay it confirmed before you start viewing properties, not after you've found one you like.
• Larger transactions have more room. Sellers and buyers on higher-value deals, or those offering an agent exclusive representation, are generally best positioned to negotiate a reduced percentage.
• Compare like-for-like. A slightly lower headline commission is not necessarily a better deal if it comes with reduced marketing effort or service — weigh the rate against the agent's track record, not just the number.
• Confirm VAT treatment upfront. Ask whether a quoted commission rate is inclusive or exclusive of 5% VAT, so there's no surprise on the final invoice.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming commission is fixed by law. It isn't, in any of the three emirates — it is always negotiable market practice.
• Confusing agent commission with the government registration fee, and under-budgeting as a result.
• Not getting the commission and payer agreed in writing before a deal is well underway.
• Overlooking VAT — a quoted "2%" commission is meaningfully different from "2% + 5% VAT on the commission" when you do the final math.
• Using an unlicensed agent. Only work with brokers licensed by AjmanRe, RERA/DLD or SRERD as applicable — this is both a legal requirement and your main protection if a dispute arises.