The emirate publishes half-year totals rather than a live registry, so most "RAK market reports" are written from brochures. This one is written from the Municipality's H1 2026 release, Cavendish Maxwell's H1 2026 research, Wynn Resorts' own filings and our weekly asking-price index.
Published 26 October 2026 · Sources: RAK Municipality Lands & Properties Sector (H1 2026); Cavendish Maxwell (H1 2026); Wynn Resorts SEC Form 8-K (4 Aug 2026); Sofia Sands RAK Waterfront Pulse (26 Oct 2026); Dubai Land Department via our Dubai market pulse (September 2026)
The Lands and Properties Sector of Ras Al Khaimah Municipality reported AED 2.89 billion (about USD 787 million) of real-estate activity between January and June 2026, across sales, mortgages and transfers. The breakdown matters more than the headline, because a third of it is debt, not purchases.
| Category, H1 2026 | Value | Count | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | AED 1.353bn | 1,274 | February, AED 371m |
| Registered mortgages | AED 1.16bn | 463 | June, AED 418m |
| Transfers without consideration (waivers) | AED 380m | 348 | April, AED 152m |
| Total registered activity | AED 2.89bn | 2,085 |
Source: Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, Lands and Properties Sector, as reported by Economy Middle East on 12 August 2026. The Municipality does not publish per-deal data, so price-per-square-foot figures for RAK are always asking prices or surveyor estimates, never a DLD-style median.
For scale: Dubai registered 135,561 sales worth AED 414.6 billion in Jan 2026 – Oct 2026 (Dubai Land Department). RAK's 1,274 half-year sales are roughly what Dubai registers in four days. That is the liquidity gap a buyer accepts in exchange for the price gap below.
Cavendish Maxwell's first-half 2026 research is the most complete dated price series for the emirate. Its reading is unambiguous: the re-rating of 2024–2025 has held, and the market has stopped sprinting.
| Measure (Cavendish Maxwell, H1 2026) | Year on year | Latest quarter |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment sale prices | +6.5% | −0.7% |
| Villa sale prices | almost +6% | −0.2% |
| Apartment rents | more than +7% | −1.4% |
| Villa rents | +8% | almost +1% |
| Ready freehold residential sales | AED 625.2m, −3.3% vs H1 2025 | +24% vs H2 2025 |
The ready-sales line is the one we watch. AED 625 million of completed, freehold homes changed hands in six months, up a quarter on the previous half-year even as villa values fell. Apartment sales values were flat to slightly up. Buyers are paying for keys in hand, not for renderings, which is consistent with what we see on viewings.
Other consultancies print steeper numbers for the same period; CBRE's H1 2026 reading, as summarised in the trade press, had RAK apartment prices up about 18% year on year. Methodology differs (transaction mix, off-plan weighting). We quote Cavendish Maxwell because its series is the most consistently published and the most conservative. Where sources disagree, we take the lower figure.
Because RAK has no open registry, we run our own weekly index, the RAK Waterfront Pulse: a deduplicated sample of live sale listings on Property Finder, medians by community. The 26 Oct 2026 read, from 405 listings:
| Area | Asking median, AED per sq ft | Asking median price | Listings sampled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Marjan Island | AED 2,353 | AED 2,050,000 | 169 |
| Mina Al Arab (incl. Hayat Island) | AED 1,354 | AED 1,300,000 | 117 |
| Al Hamra Village | AED 1,066 | AED 1,525,000 | 92 |
| RAK, all sampled | AED 1,460 | AED 1,600,000 | 405 |
| Dubai, DLD registered median (September 2026) | AED 1,694 | registry | |
| Dubai Marina / JBR, DLD median (September 2026) | AED 4,448 | registry | |
| JVC, DLD median (September 2026) | AED 1,465 | registry |
Two things to read from this. First, Al Marjan Island asks roughly 1.7× Mina Al Arab per square foot for the same sea, the Wynn premium made visible. Second, the Mina Al Arab median sits below Dubai's own market median and at under a third of the Marina, which is the arithmetic behind the Al Marjan vs Dubai Marina comparison.
Asking prices run above achieved prices, typically by mid-single-digit percentages in a balanced market. Do not compare an RAK asking median directly with a Dubai registered median without that haircut.
Cavendish Maxwell's delivery schedule is the single most important fact for anyone underwriting an RAK purchase in 2026:
| Period | Homes | Status |
|---|---|---|
| H1 2026 | c. 600 | Delivered |
| H2 2026 | 1,600 | Expected |
| 2027 | 4,700 | Expected |
| 2028 | 7,500 | Expected |
| To 2030 | c. 25,600 (97% apartments) | Pipeline |
Off-plan made up about 85% of residential sales in 2025, roughly AED 11.2 billion, according to the same research. So the 2026 market has two halves that behave differently: a thin, firm market in handed-over homes, and a deep, promotional market in launches whose keys arrive in 2027 and 2028, into the heaviest delivery years the emirate has seen. Rents softening 1.4% in a quarter while 600 homes were delivered tells you what 7,500 could do.
Our position has not changed: buy what exists, at a price per square foot that already makes sense on today's rent, and treat the opening of Wynn as upside you did not pay for.
On 4 August 2026, in its second-quarter results filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Wynn Resorts stated that Wynn Al Marjan Island "will open its doors to guests in September of 2027". It is the first time a month has replaced a season. Work had paused briefly from 28 February 2026 during the regional conflict and resumed on 11 March 2026; Wynn's life-to-date cash contribution stood at USD 1.06 billion at 30 June 2026 for its 40% of the joint venture. Trade press reported in August that the total budget had risen to about USD 5.7 billion; we have not seen that figure in a filing and label it as reported. The dated milestone log, including the two Royal Apartments unveiled in September 2026, is kept on our Wynn Al Marjan construction tracker.
What it means for prices: the 2026 data above already shows an Al Marjan premium of about 1.7× over Mina Al Arab on asking prices. Part of the opening is therefore priced in. The honest statement is that the opening is a demand catalyst for a 15-minute radius, with the strongest effect on short-let and hospitality-grade stock, and that nobody can quote you the post-opening number.
The two ready instructions we hold in Mina Al Arab, each named so there is no confusion between buildings: Bay Views on Hayat Island, a handed-over full floor of twelve residences on floor 9 (three studios, six one-bedrooms, three two-bedrooms) sold only as one lot at AED 16,200,000, 9,364 sq ft, AED 1,730 per sq ft, about 4.4% gross on sourced rents; and Bay Residences, a different building in the same community, where units 1001 and 1101 are ready at AED 1,191,000 each. Both are on the listings page; the floor has its own page at Bay Views, Hayat Island.
Year on year, yes: Cavendish Maxwell put apartment prices 6.5% higher and villas almost 6% higher in the first half of 2026. Quarter on quarter the market paused, with apartments down 0.7% and villas down 0.2% over the latest three months, and apartment rents down 1.4%. Treat 2026 as consolidation after the 2024–2025 re-rating, not as a fresh leg up.
The Ras Al Khaimah Municipality Lands and Properties Sector reported AED 2.89 billion of registered activity in the first half of 2026: AED 1.353 billion of sales across 1,274 transactions, AED 1.16 billion of mortgages across 463, and AED 380 million of transfers without consideration across 348. February was the strongest sales month at AED 371 million.
Asking medians from our RAK Waterfront Pulse on 26 Oct 2026, sampled from 405 live sale listings: AED 1,460 emirate-wide, AED 2,353 on Al Marjan Island, AED 1,354 in Mina Al Arab and AED 1,066 in Al Hamra. These are asking prices, not registered sales; RAK publishes no open transaction registry. For reference, Dubai's DLD median was AED 1,694 and Dubai Marina/JBR AED 4,448 in September 2026.
Cavendish Maxwell counts about 600 homes delivered in the first half of 2026, 1,600 due in the second half, 4,700 in 2027 and 7,500 in 2028, roughly 13,800 by end-2028, and a pipeline of about 25,600 units to 2030. Off-plan accounted for about 85% of residential sales in 2025. That is why handed-over stock is scarce today and why we underwrite on current rents rather than on projected appreciation.
September 2027. Wynn Resorts stated the month in its second-quarter 2026 results, filed with the US SEC on 4 August 2026. Work paused briefly from 28 February 2026 and resumed on 11 March 2026. The opening is a demand catalyst for Al Marjan Island and the Mina Al Arab corridor 15 minutes away, but the 2026 price data shows the market already prices in part of that expectation. Nobody honest forecasts the post-opening number.
Two instructions on our desk in Mina Al Arab: Bay Views on Hayat Island, a handed-over full floor of 12 residences sold as one lot at AED 16,200,000 (9,364 sq ft, AED 1,730 per sq ft, about 4.4% gross on sourced rents); and Bay Residences, a different building, where units 1001 and 1101 are ready at AED 1,191,000 each. We confirm price, availability and the service charge in writing before any viewing.
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We update this page when a new half-year release, a Wynn filing or a material pulse move changes a number. Last reviewed 26 October 2026.