How much does an apartment in Dubai cost in 2026: prices by district and by bedroom count

Short answer: a studio in Dubai starts at roughly $130–220k, a one-bedroom runs about $531k by median, a two-bedroom about $1m. The median listing across our whole database is around $1.13m — but that figure is skewed upward, because we work in off-market and distressed stock, which sits disproportionately in the premium districts. The district table below is where the useful information is.

Where these numbers come from

Everything here is computed from our own database: 4 962 listings across 85 districts as of 14 August 2026, refreshed nightly. The same figures drive the areas pages, where they are recalculated automatically and are therefore always fresher than an article.

One methodological note. We quote the median, never the average. In a market where a studio at $150k and a penthouse at $20m sit in the same dataset, the average tells you about the penthouse. The median is the price with half the market above it and half below — which is the number you will actually negotiate against.

By bedroom count

For context on the house side: median villa in our stock is about $2.45m, median townhouse about $1.0m — a townhouse costs roughly what a central two-bedroom costs, with its own entrance and nobody through the wall.

By district

"Entry from" is the cheapest live listing in that district today, and it should be read carefully: the $54k in Business Bay is one specific small studio in one specific building, not a price level. Use the median to place yourself, and the entry figure only to check whether a cheap segment exists at all.

Why price per square foot matters more than price

Median across the whole database is AED 2 433 per square foot — about AED 26 200 per square metre. Compare districts on that number, or you are comparing unit sizes rather than markets.

The clearest example in the table: Dubai South trades at $407 per foot, Bluewaters at $1 732 — more than four times the difference. Yet the median listing price differs by only 2.6×, because Dubai South sells large space cheaply and Bluewaters sells small space expensively. The first number is the one an investor should care about.

What moves price inside a single district

• View. In waterfront towers the gap between a sea view and an inward view reaches 30–40% within one building. It is the most expensive line item and the only one you cannot change later.
• Floor. Typically 1–2% per floor, but the ladder is not linear: top floors carry a disproportionate premium.
• Completion status. Off-plan is cheaper than ready, but that is not a discount — it is payment for risk and for income that starts in two or three years. Our stock holds 2 224 ready units and 1 826 under construction; comparing their headline prices directly is meaningless.
• Seller urgency. This is our business: 3 299 of the listings carry a discount to market, median discount 7%, and individual cases run to 30–50%.

What to do with this

A median answers "what order of magnitude am I in". It does not answer "what is this specific apartment worth" — that requires the transaction record for the building, because two towers across the road from each other can differ by a quarter on price per foot because of age, management and service charge.

Live listings with prices are in the catalogue; district breakdowns with the same numbers recalculated nightly are in areas. For a mortgage-financed purchase, the calculator models LTV, EIBOR scenarios and early repayment rather than a flat monthly figure.