Dubai recorded 11,600 property sales in August 2026, worth AED 27.89 billion. We took the 10,004 of those that were residential apartment sales with a verified area and price, and worked out what Dubai actually costs.
The median was AED 1,100,000 for 67.9 square metres, which is AED 1,705 per square foot.
Everything below comes from the Dubai Land Department transaction register for August 2026. We did the calculations ourselves. Nothing here is an estimate and nothing here is an opinion.
Dubai Property Prices by Nearest Metro Station
The Land Department records the nearest metro station on each transaction. It is published and almost nobody uses it. Here is what each station catchment cost in August 2026, for every station with at least 40 sales.
| Nearest metro station | Sales | AED per sq ft | Median price AED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Marina | 69 | 3,051 | 2,509,548 |
| Creek | 276 | 2,533 | 1,868,944 |
| Palm Jumeirah | 50 | 2,253 | 3,502,500 |
| Business Bay | 351 | 2,140 | 1,875,000 |
| Burj Khalifa Dubai Mall | 364 | 2,070 | 2,000,000 |
| Jumeirah Beach Residency | 49 | 1,959 | 2,565,000 |
| Al Jadaf | 89 | 1,931 | 1,457,860 |
| First Abu Dhabi Bank | 144 | 1,867 | 1,360,000 |
| Jumeirah Lakes Towers | 118 | 1,757 | 1,641,542 |
| UAE Exchange | 382 | 1,611 | 722,276 |
| Energy | 80 | 1,531 | 966,738 |
| Dubai Internet City | 708 | 1,498 | 1,064,300 |
| Nakheel | 398 | 1,448 | 1,000,000 |
| Sharaf DG | 215 | 1,442 | 975,000 |
| Damac Properties | 283 | 1,437 | 903,578 |
| Ibn Battuta | 83 | 1,262 | 1,405,320 |
| Harbour Tower | 108 | 1,078 | 894,467 |
| Rashidiya | 236 | 980 | 600,000 |
The spread between the top and bottom station is 3.1 times. A square foot near Dubai Marina cost AED 3,051. The same square foot near Rashidiya cost AED 980.
Now the part that surprised us. Being near a metro station is not itself worth anything. The median for every sale with a station recorded was AED 1,655 per square foot. For sales with no station recorded it was AED 1,716. Slightly higher.
So the metro does not carry a premium in Dubai. The address does. Dubai Marina is expensive because it is Dubai Marina, not because it has a station. If an agent prices a unit up for being near a station, ask them for the number. This is the number.
Off Plan Costs More per Square Foot Than Ready
This is the finding most buyers have backwards.
| Sales | AED per sq ft | Median price AED | Median size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off plan | 7,352 | 1,745 | 1,055,650 | 63.1 sq m |
| Ready | 2,652 | 1,421 | 1,201,884 | 81.7 sq m |
Off plan cost 22.8 per cent more per square foot than ready property in August 2026.
The reason the off plan ticket looks cheaper is that off plan units are smaller. The median off plan unit was 63.1 square metres against 81.7 for ready. You are paying less in total because you are buying less space, and you are paying more for each foot of it.
Off plan was 73.5 per cent of all sales by count and 71.6 per cent by value. This is an off plan market by a wide margin.
None of that makes off plan a bad buy. It does mean the phrase “off plan is cheaper” is not true per square foot, and you should know that before you sign. Our stress test on 20/80 payment plans covers what happens to that maths at handover.
Price per Square Foot by Price Band
The relationship between what you spend and what you get per foot is not a straight line. It dips before it climbs.
| Price band | Sales | Share of sales | AED per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under AED 1m | 4,419 | 44.2% | 1,663 |
| AED 1m to 2m | 3,446 | 34.4% | 1,590 |
| AED 2m to 3m | 1,215 | 12.1% | 2,085 |
| AED 3m to 5m | 596 | 6.0% | 2,525 |
| AED 5m to 10m | 210 | 2.1% | 3,530 |
| AED 10m and above | 118 | 1.2% | 4,758 |
The best value per square foot in Dubai sits in the AED 1m to 2m band, at AED 1,590. That is cheaper per foot than the under AED 1m band above it. Buyers in the cheapest band are paying more per foot than buyers spending twice as much.
That is because the under AED 1m band is mostly studios, and studios carry a size premium. More on that below.
118 sales closed at AED 10 million or above. That is 1.2 per cent of transactions and 15.6 per cent of all the money. One deal in eighty moved one dirham in six.
Studios Cost More per Foot Than One and Two Bedrooms
| Type | Sales | AED per sq ft | Median price AED | Median size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 bedroom | 57 | 3,645 | 13,037,000 | 331.5 sq m |
| 3 bedroom | 457 | 1,923 | 3,575,910 | 169.9 sq m |
| Studio | 3,592 | 1,741 | 650,000 | 35.4 sq m |
| 2 bedroom | 1,890 | 1,643 | 2,039,250 | 115.0 sq m |
| 1 bedroom | 3,583 | 1,595 | 1,200,000 | 70.3 sq m |
A studio cost AED 1,741 per square foot. A one bedroom cost AED 1,595. The smaller unit is more expensive per foot, by 9.2 per cent.
If you are buying to rent out, that matters. The studio yields well because the rent per foot is also higher. If you are buying to live in, you are paying a premium for the smallest box in the building.
The four bedroom line is a different market entirely. 57 sales, median AED 13,037,000, AED 3,645 per square foot. That is the AED 10 million and above tier and it behaves nothing like the rest of the table.
What the Nearest Landmark Tells You
The register also records the nearest landmark. Same idea, different geography.
| Nearest landmark | Sales | AED per sq ft | Median price AED |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burj Khalifa | 256 | 2,422 | 2,408,400 |
| Downtown Dubai | 822 | 2,137 | 1,680,000 |
| Dubai International Airport | 230 | 2,088 | 1,685,000 |
| Burj Al Arab | 436 | 2,073 | 2,498,574 |
| Motor City | 541 | 1,612 | 1,013,000 |
| Expo 2020 Site | 568 | 1,564 | 739,827 |
| IMG World Adventures | 1,091 | 1,556 | 765,078 |
| Sports City Swimming Academy | 1,453 | 1,418 | 1,027,000 |
Being near Dubai International Airport cost AED 2,088 per square foot. That is more than Burj Al Arab. Proximity to the airport is priced like a prime address in Dubai, which is not how it works in most cities.
Where Dubai Is Actually Buying
| Area | Sales | AED per sq ft | Median price AED | Median size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madinat Al Mataar | 1,727 | 1,759 | 730,000 | 35.4 sq m |
| City of Arabia | 769 | 1,691 | 615,000 | 34.3 sq m |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 701 | 1,425 | 1,005,933 | 71.0 sq m |
| Business Bay | 398 | 2,086 | 1,664,388 | 82.2 sq m |
| Down Town Jabal Ali | 395 | 1,608 | 722,280 | 41.8 sq m |
| Jabal Ali Industrial Second | 361 | 1,750 | 741,660 | 37.0 sq m |
| Dubai Land Residence Complex | 312 | 1,425 | 906,500 | 71.0 sq m |
| Majan | 250 | 1,518 | 911,680 | 61.6 sq m |
| Arjan | 196 | 1,459 | 896,114 | 56.9 sq m |
| Dubai Marina | 179 | 2,240 | 2,459,548 | 89.0 sq m |
| Al Hebiah Fifth | 170 | 1,654 | 1,198,465 | 69.0 sq m |
| Burj Khalifa | 153 | 2,654 | 3,200,000 | 115.3 sq m |
Madinat Al Mataar was the busiest area in Dubai in August 2026 with 1,727 sales. That is the zone around Al Maktoum International Airport, in Dubai South. It shifted more units than Business Bay, Dubai Marina and the Burj Khalifa area combined, which came to 730 between them.
The median unit there was 35.4 square metres. These are studios and small one bedrooms bought at AED 730,000 a time. It is a volume market aimed at investors, not a family market.
The Supply Behind the Sales
We also pulled the Dubai Land Department project register, dated 2 September 2026. It lists 324 live registered projects with a combined declared value of AED 95.08 billion.
Not one of them is past its registered completion date. Every project in the register has a completion date that is still in the future. Whatever you have read about Dubai delays, the register does not show a single overdue project as of September 2026.
Where are they building?
| Area | Registered projects |
|---|---|
| Madinat Al Mataar | 45 |
| Wadi Al Safa 5 | 19 |
| Wadi Al Safa 3 | 19 |
| Palm Deira | 19 |
| Al Barsha South Fourth | 14 |
| Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah | 12 |
| Al Jadaf | 12 |
| Al Yelayiss 1 | 12 |
Madinat Al Mataar is both the biggest sales market and the biggest construction site in Dubai. 1,727 sales in one month and 45 registered projects. Demand and supply are pointing at the same square of desert, next to the airport that is supposed to replace DXB.
If you own there, that is a lot of competing stock arriving. If you are buying there, you will have choice and you should use it to negotiate. Our page on every Dubai off plan launch of 2026 tracks what is coming.
Who Is Registered to Build It
| Developer | Registered projects |
|---|---|
| Emaar Development PJSC | 18 |
| Binghatti Developers | 16 |
| Damac Prime Development | 10 |
| Azizi Developments | 9 |
| Dubai South Properties | 7 |
| Nshama Properties | 6 |
| Mina Rashid Properties | 5 |
| Danube Properties | 4 |
| Object One | 4 |
| Reportage Plus | 4 |
Emaar alone carries AED 13.10 billion of the AED 95.08 billion registered, which is 13.8 per cent of declared project value from one developer.
One Thing the Register Cannot Tell You
We wanted to publish a delivery record showing which developers are ahead of schedule and which are behind. We could not, and the reason is worth knowing if you are relying on this data yourself.
The register carries a percent completed field. Of the 304 projects where we could calculate it, 203 report exactly 0.00 per cent. That includes 20 projects that are more than 30 per cent of the way through their own registered build window.
A tower that broke ground eighteen months ago is not at zero per cent. The field is not being updated on most projects. It is a registration field, not a construction gauge, and it should not be used to judge any developer.
We are saying that plainly because someone will eventually publish a league table built on that column, and it will be wrong. If you want to know whether your building is on time, ask for site photographs and the consultant progress report. Do not rely on the register.
The Same Month, Community by Community
We ran the same August figures for three DAMAC communities. The spread between them is wider than most buyers expect.
| Community | Sales | Median price AED | Median size | AED per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAMAC Hills | 136 | 1,211,160 | 63.3 sq m | 1,774 |
| DAMAC Lagoons | 268 | 1,637,350 | 107.5 sq m | 1,645 |
| DAMAC Hills 2 | 80 | 1,675,000 | 136.6 sq m | 1,059 |
Each guide now carries the full cluster breakdown for that community, including the clusters that sell the same size house at very different rates.
How We Did This
Source is the Dubai Land Department transaction register for August 2026 and the DLD project register dated 2 September 2026.
From 15,955 total records we took the 11,600 sales, then filtered to residential units with a recorded area above 15 square metres and a value above AED 50,000. That leaves 10,004 transactions worth AED 16.79 billion. We excluded mortgages, gifts, land, whole buildings and commercial units, because mixing them makes the per square foot figure meaningless.
All figures are medians, not averages. Medians are not moved by one AED 200 million penthouse. Square foot conversions use 10.7639 square feet per square metre.
Coverage limits you should know. The nearest metro field is blank on 57 per cent of the sales we analysed, so the station table is built on the 4,305 where it is present. The nearest mall field is blank on a similar share. We only published stations with at least 40 sales, and areas with at least 150.
FAQs
What is the average price per square foot in Dubai?
The median was AED 1,705 per square foot across 10,004 residential apartment sales in August 2026. We use the median rather than the average because a handful of very large deals distort an average.
What did the typical Dubai apartment cost in August 2026?
AED 1,100,000 for 67.9 square metres, which is about 731 square feet.
Is off plan cheaper than ready property in Dubai?
No, not per square foot. Off plan sold at AED 1,745 per square foot against AED 1,421 for ready, which is 22.8 per cent more. The total ticket is lower only because off plan units are smaller.
Does being near a Dubai metro station increase the price?
Not on its own. Sales with a metro station recorded had a median of AED 1,655 per square foot. Sales with no station recorded had a median of AED 1,716. Which station matters a great deal, from AED 3,051 near Dubai Marina to AED 980 near Rashidiya.
Which area sold the most property in Dubai in August 2026?
Madinat Al Mataar, the Dubai South area around Al Maktoum International Airport, with 1,727 sales. The median unit there was 35.4 square metres at AED 730,000.
How much of the Dubai market is off plan?
73.5 per cent of sales by count and 71.6 per cent by value in August 2026.
How many Dubai properties sold for over AED 10 million?
118 apartment sales closed at AED 10 million or above. That is 1.2 per cent of transactions and 15.6 per cent of total value, at a median of AED 4,758 per square foot.
Do studios cost more per square foot than one bedrooms in Dubai?
Yes. Studios sold at AED 1,741 per square foot and one bedrooms at AED 1,595, a 9.2 per cent difference in favour of the larger unit.
How many projects are under construction in Dubai?
The DLD register dated 2 September 2026 lists 324 live registered projects worth AED 95.08 billion. None of them is past its registered completion date.
Which price band offers the best value per square foot in Dubai?
AED 1 million to 2 million, at AED 1,590 per square foot. That is lower than the under AED 1 million band at AED 1,663, because the cheapest band is mostly studios and studios carry a size premium.
Talk to Us Before You Buy
Cresco Real Estate is a RERA licensed brokerage, ORN 34288. We will put the numbers for your specific unit in writing before you commit, including the DLD transfer and registration fees, the full instalment schedule, the service charge position and the escrow arrangements for the project.
If you are buying from the United States, we publish research for cross border buyers including what the UAE actually costs by price band in US dollars.
Sources
Dubai Land Department transaction register, August 2026, 15,955 records. Dubai Land Department project register, dated 2 September 2026, 324 projects. All medians, per square foot rates, band splits and share calculations are our own work from those two files.
This page is market research and marketing information. It is not investment advice, not a valuation and not an offer. Property values move. Verify every figure against the developer contract and your own advisers before you commit.