The 8 DLD Datasets, Explained: What Each One Actually Tracks

Dubai's Land Department doesn't publish one database — it publishes eight, each with its own search form and its own set of fields, and the portal itself doesn't explain which one answers which question. That's the actual obstacle for most buyers: not a lack of data, but not knowing where to look for it. Here's what each dataset tracks, and which one to open depending on what you're trying to verify.

"What did this actually sell for?" → Transactions

This is the dataset most people mean when they say "DLD data" — registered sales, both off-plan and completed. It's also the one Keyva is built on: our figures come from 95,948 registered residential sales across 307 areas, and it's the only place where a "price" is a price someone actually paid and registered, not an asking figure on a listing site. The split matters too — 75% of registered sales are off-plan, and off-plan trades roughly 23% above completed homes on average, which is worth knowing before you compare a resale flat to a launch price and assume they're the same market. Use /areas or /properties to see this by location rather than pulling the raw DLD form.

"Is my rent normal?" → Rent Contracts

Separate dataset entirely, and it does not overlap with Transactions. It logs registered Ejari contracts — rent amounts, contract dates, property type — not sale prices. If you want to check whether a renewal increase is legal rather than just annoying, this is the dataset that matters, though the calculation itself depends on RERA's rent index rather than the raw contract list. See /rent-increase for that specific question.

"Is this off-plan project even real?" → Projects

This tracks registered developments themselves — project name, status, registration details — separate from the units inside them and separate from the developer running them. It's the first place to check that a project you're being pitched actually exists in DLD's system at all, before you get to whether it's a good deal.

"What's this property officially worth?" → Valuation

Most buyers don't know this dataset exists, because it doesn't get talked about the way Transactions does. It holds DLD's own valuation records — distinct from both the sale price and any bank valuation you'll get during a mortgage. It's a useful sanity check when a resale price looks out of step with what similar units have registered for, though it's not a substitute for pulling actual comparable transactions.

"What is this plot, exactly?" → Land

This is the parcel-level dataset — plot numbers, land classification, area — for the land itself rather than any building on it. Relevant mainly if you're buying a plot to build on, or trying to confirm the boundaries and classification of land tied to a project.

"What did units in my building sell for?" → Units

Separate from Transactions in a specific way: Units tracks unit-level detail — floor, unit number, size — that you can cross-reference against sales in the same building. If you want to know what your specific building has done, rather than the area average, this is the dataset that gets you there, alongside Transactions filtered to the same address.

"What do I know about the building as a whole?" → Buildings

Building-level registration data — completion status, number of units, building classification — sits apart from both the unit records and the transactions inside it. Useful for checking whether a tower is actually registered and completed as described, rather than still mid-construction under a different status.

"Is my agent licensed?" → Brokers

A registered-brokers dataset, checkable independently of any sale. If someone is representing themselves as a RERA-registered agent, this is where that claim either holds up or doesn't — and it's a two-second check most buyers skip.

"Is this developer legitimate?" → Developers

Separate again from Projects. This dataset covers the developer entity itself — registration status, standing with DLD — rather than any specific building they're marketing. A developer can have an entry here and still have a project that isn't formally registered in the Projects dataset, so checking one doesn't confirm the other. Run both checks through /verify rather than assuming a slick brochure means either box is ticked.

Why the split trips people up

The practical failure mode is assuming DLD only tracks completed sales, then giving up when a search for an off-plan launch or a rent contract returns nothing. It's not that the data isn't there — it's filed under a different form. Knowing that Valuation, Land, Units and Buildings are queryable on their own, separate from the sales ledger, is what lets a buyer actually check a claim instead of taking an agent's word for it. If you're weighing whether a specific purchase makes sense once you've confirmed the numbers, /roi-calculator and /how-we-compare are the next stop after you've pulled the raw facts.

One caveat worth stating plainly: DLD's live portal only covers the current year in full; anything older sits on Dubai Pulse instead, under a different interface. If a figure you're chasing predates this year, the dataset you need may not be the one on the main search page at all.