Dubai's Highest-Volume Areas: Median AED/sqft Compared
Why price-per-sqft, not headline prices
Two apartments can list at the same AED figure and differ by 40% in size. Price-per-sqft strips that out and lets you compare areas, buildings, and even developers on equal footing. The numbers below come straight from recorded Dubai Land Department (DLD) transactions — actual closed sales, not listing prices — for the ten areas with the highest transaction volume in the dataset.
The ten most active areas, by volume and price
| Area | Recorded Sales | Median AED/sqft |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai Marina | 99,874 | 2,240 |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 84,978 | 1,443 |
| Business Bay | 66,302 | 2,133 |
| Burj Khalifa | 46,288 | 2,597 |
| International City Ph 1 | 43,673 | 713 |
| Dubai Land Residence Complex | 42,858 | 1,448 |
| Jumeirah Lakes Towers | 42,237 | 2,229 |
| Dubai South | 40,062 | 1,718 |
| Al Furjan | 35,048 | 1,584 |
| Meydan One | 32,403 | 1,924 |
A few things stand out here. Volume and price don't move together in any obvious way — Dubai Marina is both the most-transacted area and one of the pricier ones at AED 2,240/sqft, while Jumeirah Village Circle does nearly as much volume (84,978 sales) at a third of the price per sqft. That's two very different investor bases trading in similar quantities.
International City Ph 1 sits at the other extreme: AED 713/sqft with 43,673 recorded sales, making it the cheapest entry point among the high-volume areas by a wide margin — less than a third of Burj Khalifa's AED 2,597/sqft, which itself has fewer transactions.
What the spread tells you
Burj Khalifa's median of AED 2,597/sqft against Jumeirah Lakes Towers at AED 2,229/sqft and Business Bay at AED 2,133/sqft shows the Downtown/Business Bay corridor trading in a fairly tight AED 2,100–2,600 band, despite being geographically distinct submarkets with different building stock. Dubai South and Meydan One, both newer masterplan areas, land in the AED 1,700–1,900 range — cheaper than the established central corridor but still active, with a combined 72,000+ recorded sales between them.
None of this tells you whether an area is "cheap" or "expensive" in absolute terms — that depends on rental yield, exit liquidity, and unit mix, which are separate questions. It does tell you where the bulk of actual buyer activity is happening and at what price band, which is a more useful starting filter than scrolling listings.
Using this as a starting filter, not a conclusion
Median AED/sqft is a screening tool, not a valuation. Within any one of these areas, price varies by building age, floor, view, and developer — you can see that variation for yourself by checking specific projects in the areas directory or comparing individual buildings side by side with the compare tool.
If you're modeling what a purchase actually costs, remember the DLD fee (~4% of price) is one line item among several: add trustee registration fees, agency commission (~2%, on resale), and — if you're financing — a mortgage registration fee plus a bank valuation fee, which routinely gets left off marketing brochures. Run the full stack through the mortgage calculator or model returns with the ROI calculator before treating any per-sqft number as a green light.
For a like-for-like look at whether buying beats renting in a given area at these price points, see the rent vs. buy comparison.
This post is informational, based on aggregated DLD transaction data, and is not financial or legal advice. Verify current figures for any specific property via Keyva's verification tool before transacting.