A typical residential sale here is AED 3,025,000 for about 1,092 sqft in the last 12 months (2,789 sales); across all 54,432 recorded sales the median is AED 2,300,000.
Ready-home prices here have moved +142.4% across the 220 months (Apr 2008 – Aug 2026) of Land Department records we hold — a pace of +5% a year if it continued.
That is the whole 220 months of records for this area, expressed as an annual pace. It averages across every cycle in that period, so it describes the long run rather than the market today. Treat it as history, not a forecast.
Off-plan and ready are different markets
Comparing a launch price against a resale price without separating them is the most common way Dubai price-per-square-foot figures mislead.
42%
Sold off-plan
of 54,432 sales
Off-plan
AED 2,434/sqft
23,071 recorded sales
Ready
AED 1,921/sqft
31,361 recorded sales
Off-plan trades 27% above completed homes here. A single blended figure would sit between the two and describe neither.
What each size costs in Downtown Dubai
Median size and price for every bedroom count with at least 15 recorded sales. Dubai Land Department records a room count on nearly every sale, so this is a breakdown of real transactions rather than an estimate. The headline price is the last 12 months; the median across every sale on record sits under it.
Rent is matched to homes by bedroom count where Ejari records one, which most contracts do, and by floor area where it does not — each row says which. Every figure is the median of registered new lets: a renewal is capped under Decree 43 of 2013 and sits below what the same home lets for today.
Size
Typical home
Price, last 12 months · ready and off-plan
Per sqft, all years
Typical rent
Sales, all years
Studio
519 sqft
AED 1,779,999
483 sales
all years AED 1,206,944
AED 2,359/sqft
AED 75,000/yr
384 tenancies
4,138
1 bed
876 sqft
AED 2,375,000
898 sales
all years AED 1,700,000
AED 1,980/sqft
AED 119,358/yr
2,402 tenancies
21,179
2 beds
1,383 sqft
AED 3,925,000
982 sales
all years AED 2,981,949
AED 2,189/sqft
AED 185,000/yr
2,046 tenancies
20,677
3 beds
1,976 sqft
AED 7,275,000
328 sales
all years AED 4,894,888
AED 2,549/sqft
AED 300,000/yr
628 tenancies
7,175
4 beds
4,011 sqft
AED 23.5M
81 sales
all years AED 13.9M
AED 3,453/sqft
AED 1,250,000/yr
50 tenancies
1,031
5 beds
5,849 sqft
AED 28.25M
14 sales
all years AED 18.89M
AED 3,609/sqft
—
197
6 beds
7,295 sqft
fewer than 10 sales in 12 months
all years AED 31.78M
AED 3,440/sqft
—
16
What exists here, and who may own it
Every other figure on this page is about homes that sold. This is the standing stock, from the Land Department’s unit register.
Registered units
27,364
In Downtown Dubai, from the Land Department's register of flats.
Freehold
99%
27,182 of 27,364 units with a recorded ownership type.
Typical size
1,133 sqft
Median of the 27,363 units that record one.
By size of home
1 B/R10,604
2 B/R10,112
3 B/R3,594
Studio2,358
4 B/R574
5 B/R111
Apartments, stacked townhouses and commercial units. Villas are not in this dataset.
Rental market
From 9,204 tenancy contracts registered with Ejari in the last 12 months — agreed rents, not advertised ones.
Typical annual rent
AED 145,000/yr
for ~1,092 sqft
Rent per sqft
AED 134/sqft
per year
Renewals
42%
of contracts
Contracts
9,204
last 12 months
What it costs to rent here
Median annual rent, by size of home.
StudioAED 75,000/yr
1 bedAED 119,358/yr
2 bedsAED 185,000/yr
3 bedsAED 300,000/yr
4 bedsAED 1,250,000/yr
Matched to tenancies by bedroom count where Ejari records one — most contracts do — and by floor area where it does not; the table below says which for each row. Renewing tenants pay about 6% less per sqft than someone signing a new lease here.
What it returns
A year’s rent against what completed homes of that size actually sold for in Downtown Dubai over the same twelve months — both from registered records. Off-plan sales are left out of the price, because rent is paid on built homes and off-plan sells at a premium.
Size
Costs now, ready
Rents for
Gross yield
Ready sales, 12m
Studio
AED 1.2M
AED 75,000/yrby bedroom · 384 new lets
6.3%
93
1 bed
AED 2.18M
AED 119,358/yrby bedroom · 2,402 new lets
5.5%
626
2 beds
AED 3.7M
AED 185,000/yrby bedroom · 2,046 new lets
5.0%
697
3 beds
AED 6.6M
AED 300,000/yrby bedroom · 628 new lets
4.5%
263
4 beds
AED 18M
AED 1,250,000/yrby bedroom · 50 new lets
6.9%
41
The best gross yield here is on a 4 beds at 6.9%. Smaller homes almost always yield more than larger ones — they cost proportionally less and rent for proportionally more.
Why this is lower than yields quoted elsewhere
The usual shortcut divides today’s rent by an average price — and in a market that has risen as far as Dubai’s, the average is a historical price. On that arithmetic a 1 bed here reads 7.0% instead of 5.5%, because it prices the home at AED 1.7M — the median across every sale on record — rather than the AED 2.18M a completed one costs today. Every figure above uses the same twelve months, and completed homes only, on both sides.
What it returns after service charges
Starting from the middle filed owners-association budget in this area — AED 23/sqft across 21 buildings, most recently filed for 2023. Charges have risen since then, so replace it with your own invoice if you have one. How to check it.
Size
Charge / year
Rent after it
Gross
Net
Studio
AED 11,938
AED 63,062
6.3%
5.3%
1 bed
AED 20,155
AED 99,203
5.5%
4.6%
2 beds
AED 31,818
AED 153,182
5.0%
4.1%
3 beds
AED 45,437
AED 254,564
4.5%
3.9%
4 beds
AED 92,257
AED 1,157,743
6.9%
6.4%
Still not the final number: agency commission on re-letting, and any month the home sits empty, both come out of net rent too. This subtracts the service charge only, because it is the one cost that is the same every year whether or not the home is let.
Gross yield: rent before costs. Service charges, agency commission, and any month the home sits empty all come out of it — in Dubai the service charge alone is commonly a fifth to a third of the rent, so treat these as the ceiling rather than the return.
Common questions about Downtown Dubai
How much is rent in Downtown Dubai?
a studio rents for a median AED 75,000/yr, a 1-bedroom for AED 119,358/yr, a 2-bedroom for AED 185,000/yr, a 3-bedroom for AED 300,000/yr. These are medians of tenancy contracts registered with Ejari in Downtown Dubai over the last twelve months — what tenants agreed to pay, not advertised asking rents. Rent is matched to homes by bedroom count where Ejari records one — most contracts do — and by floor area where it does not; each row on this page says which.
How much do properties cost in Downtown Dubai?
The median residential sale price in Downtown Dubai was AED 2,714/sqft in August 2026, from 147 sales registered that month. Over the last 12 months a typical home here sold for about AED 3.03M and measured about 1,092 sqft (2,789 sales). These are medians of sales actually registered with the Dubai Land Department, not of asking prices.
What rental yield does Downtown Dubai give?
Gross yields on ready homes in Downtown Dubai run about 6.3% on a studio apartment, 5.5% on a 1-bedroom apartment, 5.0% on a 2-bedroom apartment, 4.5% on a 3-bedroom apartment, dividing a year of registered rent by what completed homes of that size actually sold for over the same twelve months. Smaller homes yield more. These are gross figures: service charges, agency commission and void periods are not deducted, and in Dubai the service charge alone commonly takes a fifth to a third of the rent.
Is Downtown Dubai freehold?
Mostly, but not entirely. 27,182 of the 27,364 units with a recorded tenure in Downtown Dubai are freehold, so foreign ownership is possible in most buildings here and not all — check the specific title before committing.
How have property prices in Downtown Dubai changed over the last two years?
Ready homes in Downtown Dubai sold for a median AED 2,538/sqft in Q2 2026 (303 sales), against AED 2,431/sqft in Q3 2024 (632 sales): +4.4% across those quarters. By quarter, the ready-home median was AED 2,431/sqft in Q3 2024, AED 2,526/sqft in Q4 2024, AED 2,700/sqft in Q1 2025, AED 2,668/sqft in Q2 2025, AED 2,684/sqft in Q3 2025, AED 2,810/sqft in Q4 2025, AED 2,739/sqft in Q1 2026, AED 2,538/sqft in Q2 2026. Off-plan registrations ran at AED 3,446/sqft in Q2 2026 (118 registrations) and are never pooled with ready homes here. These are medians of registered sales, not an index: a quarter's move against the one before it partly reflects which homes sold, and registrations for Q2 2026 are still being filed.
Is Downtown Dubai mostly off-plan or completed homes?
38% of the 2,789 sales registered in Downtown Dubai in the last 12 months were off-plan, and the rest were completed homes. The two trade at different prices, so a single blended price per square foot for the area would describe neither.
Prices by quarter, Q3 2024 to Q2 2026
Median registered sale price per sqft in Downtown Dubai, by calendar quarter of the transaction date, ready homes and off-plan registrations kept apart. Complete quarters only; a quarter's median prints on 60 or more sales.
Quarter
Ready homes · median per sqft
vs a year earlier
Off-plan · median per sqft
Q3 2024
AED 2,431/sqft632 sales
+13.6%
AED 2,950/sqft513 registrations
Q4 2024
AED 2,526/sqft697 sales
+9.5%
AED 2,817/sqft409 registrations
Q1 2025
AED 2,700/sqft744 sales
+12.8%
AED 2,970/sqft292 registrations
Q2 2025
AED 2,668/sqft622 sales
+7.5%
AED 2,971/sqft331 registrations
Q3 2025
AED 2,684/sqft564 sales
+10.4%
AED 3,255/sqft189 registrations
Q4 2025
AED 2,810/sqft594 sales
+11.2%
AED 3,869/sqft654 registrations
Q1 2026
AED 2,739/sqft489 sales
+1.5%
AED 3,372/sqft185 registrations
Q2 2026still registering
AED 2,538/sqft303 sales
-4.9%
AED 3,446/sqft118 registrations
Ready-home median +4.4% from Q3 2024 (AED 2,431/sqft, 632 sales) to Q2 2026 (AED 2,538/sqft, 303 sales).
Q2 2026 holds 303 ready sales against about 549 in each of the three quarters before it: registrations for it are still being filed, and its median will settle in later months.
A median is not an index: it moves when the mix of what sold moves, and a single quarter's move against the one before it reverses the next quarter about half the time on this register. Read the level, its sample, and the change against the same quarter a year earlier.
Median price per sqft trend
Every registered residential sale in this area by month, ready homes and off-plan together, so this is the history of what sold rather than a rate. The newest month is still being registered and will move. The rates on this page read ready homes alone.
Areas at a similar price
Closest to Downtown Dubai on median price per square foot. Areas with fewer than 10 recorded sales are left out, because a median drawn from a handful of deals is not worth comparing against.
