Dubai Diligence Research
Dubai Buyers Pay More for a Home That Does Not Exist Yet
By Dubai Diligence · Updated 7 September 2026 · Registered sales to 3 September 2026
Off-plan is usually described as the affordable way into Dubai property. The register says something else. In all 30 communities with enough sales to compare fairly, a similar sized apartment cost more per square foot before it was built than one you could move into that week.
The middle community showed a premium of 37.7%. This is not a survey and not a set of asking prices. It is 49,605 apartment sales actually registered with the Dubai Land Department over the last twelve months, compared like for like: same community, same twelve months, and only apartments between roughly 600 and 1,400 square feet, the size band where off-plan and ready homes both trade in volume.
Off-plan against ready, by community
Median registered price per square foot, apartments only, last twelve months. Median sizes are shown so you can see the two sides are genuinely comparable.
| Community | Off-plan AED/sqft | Ready AED/sqft | Difference | Sales compared |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meydan Racecourse Community | 3,370 at 809 sqft | 1,475 at 814 sqft | +128.6% | 722 |
| Palm Jumeirah | 5,100 at 1,027 sqft | 2,857 at 1,143 sqft | +78.5% | 308 |
| International City | 1,074 at 810 sqft | 606 at 732 sqft | +77.2% | 846 |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 1,610 at 846 sqft | 924 at 862 sqft | +74.4% | 1,485 |
| Dubailand Residence Complex | 1,287 at 824 sqft | 757 at 917 sqft | +70% | 3,638 |
| Motor City | 1,813 at 826 sqft | 1,071 at 943 sqft | +69.3% | 2,111 |
| Jumeirah Lake Towers | 2,301 at 901 sqft | 1,388 at 897 sqft | +65.8% | 1,029 |
| Dubai Sports City | 1,383 at 933 sqft | 852 at 849 sqft | +62.3% | 1,721 |
| Majan | 1,364 at 824 sqft | 866 at 895 sqft | +57.5% | 2,326 |
| Downtown Dubai | 3,753 at 980 sqft | 2,435 at 997 sqft | +54.1% | 1,348 |
| Liwan1 | 1,351 at 816 sqft | 893 at 885 sqft | +51.3% | 690 |
| Business Bay | 2,626 at 840 sqft | 1,772 at 911 sqft | +48.2% | 2,931 |
| Dubai Marina | 2,670 at 901 sqft | 1,827 at 911 sqft | +46.1% | 1,353 |
| IMPZ | 1,342 at 823 sqft | 925 at 780 sqft | +45.1% | 1,878 |
| Dubai South Residential District | 1,429 at 897 sqft | 1,016 at 847 sqft | +40.7% | 2,254 |
| DAMAC Hills | 1,789 at 703 sqft | 1,328 at 806 sqft | +34.7% | 1,061 |
| Town Square | 1,676 at 899 sqft | 1,309 at 937 sqft | +28% | 1,550 |
| Dubai Harbour | 4,180 at 1,052 sqft | 3,295 at 857 sqft | +26.9% | 410 |
| International City Phase 3 | 1,106 at 788 sqft | 899 at 785 sqft | +23% | 845 |
| Arjan | 1,543 at 839 sqft | 1,256 at 842 sqft | +22.8% | 1,762 |
| Jumeirah Village Triangle | 1,616 at 811 sqft | 1,334 at 829 sqft | +21.2% | 2,609 |
| Dubai Health Care City Phase 2 | 2,031 at 879 sqft | 1,693 at 804 sqft | +20% | 700 |
| City Walk | 3,296 at 833 sqft | 2,754 at 1,053 sqft | +19.7% | 562 |
| Dubai Studio City | 1,476 at 726 sqft | 1,245 at 738 sqft | +18.5% | 614 |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 1,478 at 789 sqft | 1,271 at 838 sqft | +16.3% | 7,800 |
| Al Furjan | 1,425 at 1,090 sqft | 1,254 at 969 sqft | +13.6% | 1,036 |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 2,638 at 785 sqft | 2,343 at 1,031 sqft | +12.6% | 2,971 |
| Meydan One | 2,246 at 819 sqft | 2,027 at 758 sqft | +10.8% | 371 |
| Dubai Hills Estate | 2,411 at 824 sqft | 2,310 at 866 sqft | +4.4% | 1,948 |
| Sobha Hartland | 2,048 at 900 sqft | 2,024 at 862 sqft | +1.2% | 726 |
Why the gap exists, honestly
A premium is not the same as a bad deal, and there are ordinary reasons for most of this one. An off-plan home is new. Much of the ready stock it is being compared against is ten or fifteen years old, in a building with older finishes and older systems, and nobody expects those to trade at the same price. An off-plan price is also paid in instalments across the construction period rather than in full on the day, and terms like that have a value of their own.
What the register settles is the direction. Whatever the reasons, a buyer choosing off-plan in these communities was not paying less per square foot than a buyer choosing a finished home. Anyone told otherwise can now check it in one place.
The spread matters as much as the average. Meydan Racecourse Community shows the widest gap at 128.6%, which reflects a district being built new around a small amount of older stock. At the other end, Sobha Hartland shows 1.2%, close to no difference at all. Two buyers making the same decision in two communities are not making the same decision.
How this was calculated
Every figure comes from Dubai Land Department transaction records, the official register of property sales in Dubai. We take registered apartment sales with a recorded price and size over the last twelve months, restricted to homes between 56 and 130 square metres, roughly 600 to 1,400 square feet. That band is where off-plan and ready homes both trade in volume; without it the comparison would mostly measure the fact that newer apartments are smaller, and price per square foot rises as a home gets smaller. A community appears only when at least 100 off-plan and 100 ready sales are on record for it in that period. Off-plan means the sale was registered before completion. Medians are used throughout rather than averages, so one unusual sale cannot move a figure. The page recomputes as new records are published.
What this does not control for: the age and specification of the buildings on each side, and the payment terms behind each price. Both are discussed above. Villas and townhouses are excluded because they are a different market.
Source: Dubai Land Department, published as Dubai Open Data under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0). Analysis by Dubai Diligence.
Common questions
- Is off-plan cheaper than ready property in Dubai?
- Not on these figures. Comparing apartments of a similar size in the same community over the last 12 months of registered sales, the median off-plan price per square foot was higher than the ready price in all 30 communities with enough sales of both to compare. The middle community showed a premium of 37.7%.
- Why would an off-plan home cost more than a finished one?
- Several ordinary reasons. Off-plan homes are new, and much of the ready stock they are compared against is not. An off-plan price is usually paid in instalments across the construction period rather than in full today, and payment terms carry a cost. Buyers may also be paying for an expectation of what the area will be worth on completion.
- Which Dubai community has the biggest off-plan premium?
- Meydan Racecourse Community, where the median off-plan apartment registered at AED 3,370 per square foot against AED 1,475 for a ready one of similar size, a difference of 128.6%.
- Where does this data come from?
- Dubai Land Department transaction records, the official register of every property sale in Dubai, published as open data under a CC BY 4.0 licence. No asking prices or portal listings are used.
Cite this research
Dubai Diligence, “Dubai Buyers Pay More for a Home That Does Not Exist Yet,” analysis of Dubai Land Department data, 2026.
https://dubaidiligence.com/research/dubai-off-plan-premium
Journalists and researchers are welcome to reproduce these figures with attribution to Dubai Diligence. The underlying area figures are free and machine readable at dubaidiligence.com/data. For a specific breakdown, a chart, or comment, contact steven@dubaidiligence.com.
Check a specific listing, or read the same register by area.
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