Dubai Islamic Bank has agreed with Expo City Dubai to provide construction-stage home finance for eligible buyers in its residential developments. Announced on 6 October, the partnership applies a product introduced in August to a specific development portfolio. For a purchaser already paying a developer, it creates another way to fund the remaining commitment rather than a replacement for the initial equity.
There are two entry conditions in the new announcement: a DIB-approved project must be at least 35% complete, and the buyer must already have paid at least half the purchase price. The bank may then finance up to half the property's value. These are separate measures. A construction percentage describes progress on the project; a paid percentage describes money committed by the purchaser.
Paid to date is different from built to date
Consider an illustrative AED2 million purchase. The paid-price condition alone requires at least AED1 million to have been paid. If the property's value for financing is also AED2 million and the full ceiling is approved, finance could reach AED1 million. A lower approved valuation or smaller facility changes that amount. This example isolates the two percentages; it excludes fees and does not describe an actual unit or a bank offer.
The practical benefit is a clearer route through later developer instalments once both conditions are met. Before that point, the buyer still needs the cash required by the purchase timetable. A plan that relies on bank funding earlier than the project becomes eligible leaves a gap even if the eventual facility would be large enough. Plotting the developer's dates against the bank's first possible release makes that gap visible.
The repayment calendar can run ahead of handover
DIB's August product description explains that money is released in tranches tied to developer milestones. During construction, payments cover the profit component, which grows as further tranches are released. Principal-and-profit instalments begin at handover or within 24 months of taking the finance, whichever happens first. The smaller early payment therefore changes the timing of the commitment, not the amount owed.
That second date deserves its own line in the appraisal. If delivery moves beyond the 24-month point, full instalments can start before the home is available to occupy or let. A buyer intending to use rental receipts towards repayment would then need other cash for the intervening period. The comparison should include that period explicitly rather than assume income starts with the first full instalment.
Compare the cost, not just the smaller first payment
The product is available to eligible nationals, residents and non-residents. The October statement also sets out terms of up to 25 years without requiring salary transfer, subject to the bank's approval. It does not publish a project-specific rate or a complete schedule of costs. An actual comparison needs the proposed profit rate, fees, repayment amount and release timetable, all attached to the same property and buyer.
For someone choosing between cash instalments and bank finance, the useful result is the total cash required at each date, followed by the cost over the intended holding period. A lower initial outflow is worth understanding, but it cannot by itself establish a cheaper purchase. Expo City's new agreement makes that comparison more relevant; the next step is an approved offer matched to the developer's payment schedule.