Dubai Diligence Research
Dubai Buyers Pay More for a Home That Does Not Exist Yet
By Dubai Diligence · Updated 22 October 2026 · Registered sales to 19 October 2026
Off-plan is usually described as the affordable way into Dubai property. The register says something else. In all 28 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 32.7%. This is not a survey and not a set of asking prices. It is 43,501 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International City | 1,078 at 810 sqft | 609 at 732 sqft | +77% | 815 |
| Palm Jumeirah | 5,081 at 1,076 sqft | 2,888 at 1,143 sqft | +75.9% | 263 |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 1,610 at 847 sqft | 933 at 869 sqft | +72.5% | 1,268 |
| Dubailand Residence Complex | 1,283 at 822 sqft | 748 at 908 sqft | +71.4% | 3,344 |
| Jumeirah Lake Towers | 2,268 at 879 sqft | 1,377 at 901 sqft | +64.7% | 932 |
| Dubai Sports City | 1,379 at 938 sqft | 864 at 857 sqft | +59.6% | 1,631 |
| Motor City | 1,710 at 824 sqft | 1,075 at 943 sqft | +59.1% | 1,902 |
| Liwan 1 | 1,367 at 816 sqft | 873 at 856 sqft | +56.6% | 641 |
| Downtown Dubai | 3,764 at 995 sqft | 2,411 at 995 sqft | +56.1% | 1,278 |
| Majan | 1,378 at 814 sqft | 890 at 857 sqft | +54.8% | 2,301 |
| Business Bay | 2,576 at 863 sqft | 1,791 at 906 sqft | +43.8% | 2,506 |
| Dubai South Residential District | 1,441 at 896 sqft | 1,020 at 834 sqft | +41.2% | 2,169 |
| IMPZ | 1,344 at 823 sqft | 959 at 781 sqft | +40.2% | 1,683 |
| DAMAC Hills | 1,799 at 695 sqft | 1,315 at 806 sqft | +36.8% | 991 |
| Dubai Harbour | 4,180 at 1,052 sqft | 3,247 at 853 sqft | +28.7% | 404 |
| Town Square | 1,692 at 899 sqft | 1,317 at 935 sqft | +28.4% | 1,471 |
| Arjan | 1,560 at 843 sqft | 1,269 at 842 sqft | +23% | 1,720 |
| Jumeirah Village Triangle | 1,623 at 805 sqft | 1,321 at 836 sqft | +22.8% | 2,181 |
| City Walk | 3,331 at 839 sqft | 2,765 at 1,053 sqft | +20.5% | 490 |
| International City Phase 3 | 1,123 at 787 sqft | 935 at 771 sqft | +20.1% | 826 |
| Dubai Healthcare City Phase 2 | 2,039 at 880 sqft | 1,711 at 811 sqft | +19.2% | 620 |
| Dubai Studio City | 1,477 at 724 sqft | 1,246 at 696 sqft | +18.5% | 560 |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 1,466 at 798 sqft | 1,255 at 842 sqft | +16.9% | 6,793 |
| Meydan One | 2,248 at 820 sqft | 1,970 at 757 sqft | +14.1% | 373 |
| Al Furjan | 1,431 at 1,090 sqft | 1,260 at 977 sqft | +13.5% | 928 |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 2,640 at 821 sqft | 2,332 at 1,032 sqft | +13.2% | 2,927 |
| Dubai Hills Estate | 2,439 at 830 sqft | 2,280 at 890 sqft | +7% | 1,775 |
| Sobha Hartland | 2,051 at 890 sqft | 2,000 at 863 sqft | +2.5% | 709 |
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. International City shows the widest gap at 77%, which reflects a district being built new around a small amount of older stock. At the other end, Sobha Hartland shows 2.5%, 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 28 communities with enough sales of both to compare. The middle community showed a premium of 32.7%.
- 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?
- International City, where the median off-plan apartment registered at AED 1,078 per square foot against AED 609 for a ready one of similar size, a difference of 77%.
- 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 press@dubaidiligence.com.
Check a specific listing, or read the same register by area.
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