Yes. The Central Bank of the UAE raised its Base Rate by 25 basis points, from 3.65% to 3.90%, effective Thursday 17 September 2026. The Base Rate applies to the CBUAE’s Overnight Deposit Facility and signals the general stance of UAE monetary policy. The move followed the US Federal Reserve’s decision on 16 September to raise its Interest Rate on Reserve Balances by the same amount — the Fed’s first increase since 2023. Because the UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar, the CBUAE tracks Federal Reserve decisions closely, which is why UAE rate changes almost always follow within a day.

On a 25-year repayment mortgage, a rate moving from 4.50% to 4.75% adds roughly AED 143 a month on a AED 1,000,000 loan, AED 286 on AED 2,000,000, and AED 714 on AED 5,000,000. Over a year that is about AED 1,714, AED 3,428 and AED 8,571 respectively. Those are illustrative figures, not a quote — your actual payment depends on your lender, your margin over EIBOR, your remaining term and your profile. The point is the scale: a quarter point is a real number on a large loan over a long term, but it is not the kind of move that breaks a well-structured purchase.

Not during your fixed period. If you are on a fixed rate, your repayments stay the same until that period ends, regardless of what the Central Bank does in the meantime. What matters is the date your fixed term expires, because that is when your loan reverts to a variable rate and picks up whatever the rate environment looks like then. Most Dubai mortgages are fixed for an introductory period of one to five years and then revert to EIBOR plus a bank margin. If you do not know your expiry date, it is on your offer letter, and it is worth diarising.

EIBOR is the Emirates Interbank Offered Rate — the rate at which UAE banks lend to one another. It is the benchmark most UAE variable mortgages are actually priced against, usually quoted as EIBOR plus a bank margin. The CBUAE Base Rate sets the floor for that interbank market, so a change in the Base Rate feeds through to EIBOR rather than applying to your loan directly. Three-month EIBOR stood at 4.21% on 17 September 2026, up from 4.13% the previous day. If you hold a variable mortgage, EIBOR is the number to watch, not the headline base rate.

It depends on your time horizon, not on one week’s news. A single 25 basis point rise is not a trend, and fixing is not free — you generally pay a premium for the certainty, and you give up the benefit if rates fall again during the fixed period. Fixing makes most sense if a rise would genuinely strain your budget or if you need payment certainty for a defined period. If you are still searching rather than committed, the more useful step is a mortgage pre-approval: some UAE lenders will hold an approved rate for up to 90 days, which protects your borrowing cost while you look without locking you into a long fixed term.