Ras Al Khaimah’s residential market is diverging as it rises. Apartment sale prices jumped 32% y-o-y in 2025, while rents climbed nearly 25%, with the gap between average sales and rental values widening, according to CBRE Middle East’s latest research. That widening gap suggests capital appreciation is running ahead of yield — a classic late-cycle dynamic as inventory handovers approach.

The pricing inflection: Prime apartments have now reached AED 2.4k per sq ft — the highest in the current cycle — led by Al Marjan Island and Mina Al Arab. Villas rose 11% to AED 1.2k per sq ft, while rental growth remained broadly flat, suggesting investors are pricing in the future while tenants are still anchoring in the present.

Why now?

Tourism and big-ticket projects are driving momentum: Visitor arrivals hit a record 1.4 mn in 2025, occupancy rose 4.6%, the average daily rate increased 6.6%, and revenue per available room climbed 11.5%, adding fresh pressure to pricing. The USD 5.2 bn Wynn Al Marjan Island, projected to contribute up to 40% of RAK’s GDP, remains the gravitational anchor ahead of its expected 2027 opening. Record growth in new firms coming to Ras Al Khaimah, which was also the emirate with the most FDI last year, also boosted appeal.

The 2027 hinge: CBRE expects the divergence to moderate from 2027 onward as newly launched stock transitions to handover. In other words, when today’s pricing momentum meets tomorrow’s delivery cycle.

Volumes complicate the picture

Overall sales activity declined y-o-y due to fewer mid-market launches in emerging districts like RAK Central, even as 4Q posted a sharp rebound. Appetite remains, but it’s concentrated, coastal, and premium.

That premium bias isn’t accidental: Of the 9.5k hotel keys in the 2026-2030 pipeline, 92% are five-star — a clear signal RAK is scaling upmarket rather than broadening its base. It’s not just tourism, however, with the 19k+ new companies that came to RAKEZ last year, pointing to corporate interest rising in tandem with tourism.

The structural backdrop

As we’ve previously reported, this pricing cycle is also unfolding as capacity constraints in Dubai and Abu Dhabi push industrial occupiers north. With Grade A rents in Al Quoz touching AED 100 per sq ft and occupancy exceeding 95% — mirrored by 97% occupancy in Kezad — displacement drove a 40% rise in industrial rents across the northern Emirates. More than USD 547 mn in industrial and logistics contracts were awarded in RAK last year alone, reinforcing its role in the UAE’s emerging hub-and-spoke model.

What to watch for

2027 will be about absorption. The question isn’t whether RAK can attract capital — it clearly can — but whether handovers validate today’s pricing or recalibrate it. As mid-market inventory shifts to emerging districts, the emirate will also test whether it can preserve its cost edge or converge toward Dubai-style pricing.

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