What AED 1 million buys in Dubai, according to 52,375 people who spent it

Dubai's public image is a AED 100 million penthouse. Its register says something different: 29 percent of every residential sale in the last twelve months was under AED 1 million, and 3 percent were under AED 500,000. That is 52,375 purchases in the sub-million bracket against 3,877 above AED 10 million.

The median Dubai residential sale, across everything, is AED 1,402,499.

Where the whole market actually sits

Price band	Sales	Share
Under AED 500,000	5,390	3.0%
AED 500,000 to 750,000	25,494	14.2%
AED 750,000 to 1 million	21,491	11.9%
AED 1 to 1.5 million	42,630	23.7%
AED 1.5 to 2 million	22,693	12.6%
AED 2 to 3 million	29,210	16.2%
AED 3 to 5 million	20,803	11.6%
AED 5 to 10 million	8,327	4.6%
AED 10 million and above	3,877	2.2%

The single biggest band is AED 1 to 1.5 million, at nearly a quarter of the market. Just under two thirds of all Dubai sales, 65.4 percent, happen below AED 2 million.

Under a million means a studio, seven times out of ten

Of the 52,375 sub-million purchases, 36,786 were studios. Another 13,729 were one bedrooms. Two bedrooms managed 1,329, and three bedrooms 137.

Type	Sales under AED 1m	Average price	Average size
Studio	36,786	AED 672,807	412 sqft
1 bedroom	13,729	AED 792,950	741 sqft
2 bedroom	1,329	AED 781,824	1,033 sqft
3 bedroom	137	AED 697,399	1,069 sqft

The two and three bedroom rows are worth pausing on, because they are cheaper per square foot than the studios and they are only 1,466 sales. A sub-million three bedroom in Dubai exists, and it is a very specific thing: older stock in International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis or Discovery Gardens. It is not a discount on a new build, it is a different product.

The four areas that carry a fifth of the entry-level market

Area	Commonly called	Sub-million sales	Average price	Average size	Off-plan share
Al Barsha South Fourth	Jumeirah Village Circle	6,697	AED 743,123	531 sqft	62%
Madinat Al Mataar	Dubai South	6,159	AED 680,095	446 sqft	89%
Wadi Al Safa 5	Dubailand Residence Complex	4,936	AED 710,591	531 sqft	87%
Wadi Al Safa 3	Majan	4,160	AED 696,003	485 sqft	83%
Me'Aisem First	Dubai Production City	2,381	AED 702,718	518 sqft	70%
Al Barshaa South Third	Arjan	2,134	AED 729,539	486 sqft	59%
Al Barsha South Fifth	Jumeirah Village Triangle	2,131	AED 758,395	464 sqft	87%
Al Warsan First	International City Phase 1	1,767	AED 483,393	623 sqft	24%
Al Hebiah Fourth	Dubai Sports City	1,778	AED 667,899	600 sqft	38%
Nadd Hessa	Dubai Silicon Oasis	1,392	AED 686,375	624 sqft	34%

Those first four areas alone, JVC, Dubai South, the Dubailand Residence Complex and Majan, account for 21,952 sub-million purchases, or 42 percent of the entire entry-level market.

That ordering is not an artefact of our sample. The Dubai Land Department's own first-half 2025 figures named Al Barsha South Fourth the emirate's busiest area by transaction volume, with Wadi Al Safa 5 third, using the same register names. Our numbers cover a different window and residential sales only, so they will not match line for line, but the shape of the market they describe is the same one the department reports.

The trade-off is square feet, and it is visible

The most useful column in that table is the size one, because it shows what the same money buys in two different kinds of area.

In International City Phase 1, AED 483,393 bought an average of 623 square feet. In Dubai South, AED 680,095 bought 446. That is 40 percent more money for 28 percent less space, and the difference is not a mistake: International City is 20-year-old stock and Dubai South is mostly off-plan launches, 89 percent of them.

The pattern holds across the table. The cheapest square feet in the entry-level market are in the established, largely ready districts, and they come with older buildings. The newest buildings at this price point are in the outer growth corridors, and they come in around 450 to 530 square feet.

So the real question under AED 1 million is not which area is cheapest. It is whether you want a new small unit or an older larger one, and the register prices those two answers about 40 percent apart per square foot.

One thing to budget that is not in the price

The purchase price is not the cost. On a AED 700,000 apartment, the Dubai Land Department's registration fees add roughly AED 32,700 before any agency commission, and the fee schedule is not proportional at the bottom of the market: the trustee office charge is a flat AED 4,000 plus VAT above AED 500,000 regardless of price. We broke the full cost down, from the official fee schedule, in what it actually costs to buy property in Dubai.

Use these numbers

Every figure here is free to reproduce with attribution and a link back to this page. If you want the sub-million cut for a specific area, or the same table at a different ceiling, ask and we will send it. Live entry-level stock is on our resale listings and off-plan register.