Buying a studio in Dubai by DLD data: prices by area, sales, rents and yields, 2021–2026

Renat BashirovUpdated: 31 October 202612 min read

As of October 2026, a studio in Dubai had a median registered sale price of AED 674,884 in 2026 to 26 October, compared with AED 709,207 in 2025. Studios represented 30.8% of Dubai residential Unit transactions in 2026, and 82.1% of studio sales were off-plan. A buyer can find registered studio transactions below AED 500,000, but this price band accounted for 9.3% of 2026 studio transactions to date; the largest segment was AED 500,000–750,000 at 61.0%.

What counts as a studio in DLD records and how the figures are calculated

For this page, a studio is a residential Unit record where rooms_en is recorded as “Studio” and the subtype is “Flat”. This is a registry definition. It does not classify a unit by marketing description, furniture, interior layout or whether it is used by an owner or tenant.

Sale figures cover registered residential Sales transactions with a recorded area above zero, transaction value from AED 100,000 to AED 500 million, and price from AED 3,000 to AED 200,000 per m². Every price, area and price-per-square-metre figure below is a median, not an average. Median means half of the registered transactions were above it and half below it.

Off-plan means the registration type is “Off-Plan Properties”. Existing properties include ready units, including first sales of completed units by developers. This distinction matters because studios were heavily weighted toward off-plan transactions: 76.1% in 2025 and 82.1% in 2026 to 26 October. Ejari rent contracts, by contrast, do not distinguish off-plan from ready homes.

Rental figures are based on residential Ejari contracts. Studio contracts are recorded in two ways: Flat with the Studio subtype and a separate Studio type. Both are included. The rental sample covers units from 20 to 80 m² and annual rents from AED 15,000 to AED 3 million; it includes new contracts and renewals. Labour camp studios are excluded. Rentals are filtered by area (20–80 m²) while sales are not, so the price–rent pair can be shifted by the difference in samples.

For a buyer comparing a studio budget with the wider apartment market, see buy an apartment in Dubai: prices by area.

PDF shortlist · updated 27 October 2026

Studios and 1-bedroom apartments up to AED 1.5M

30 projects · prices from DLD and developers

  1. Berton by Azizi Berton by Azizi Al Furjan · Studio, 1–2 BR from AED 335,000
  2. UniEstate Prime Tower UniEstate Prime Tower JVC District 10 · Studio, 1–2 BR from AED 345,000
  3. Joya Blanca Joya Blanca Arjan · Studio, 1–2 BR from AED 350,000

27 more in the PDF: prices, handover dates, payment plans

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Dubai studio sales by year: 2021–2026

The 2026 column is incomplete and covers registrations to 26 October 2026. It should not be read as a full-year total. The 2026 count of 31,816 is not comparable with the full 2025 count of 41,796. The median area was 36.2 m² against 38.9 m² in 2025, and the median price per m² was AED 18,697 against AED 18,552.

Year Studio sales Median price, AED Median AED/m² Median area, m² Off-plan share
2021 6,586 423,048 11,010 38.7 51.0%
2022 10,684 466,390 12,434 39.6 48.8%
2023 18,745 545,000 14,425 39.3 61.8%
2024 28,713 638,000 16,991 38.9 68.5%
2025 41,796 709,207 18,552 38.9 76.1%
2026 to 26 October 31,816 674,884 18,697 36.2 82.1%

There were 138,340 registered studio sales from 2021 to 26 October 2026. The median price moved from AED 423,048 in 2021 to AED 709,207 in 2025, while median price per m² moved from AED 11,010 to AED 18,552.

Studios accounted for 25.1% of all residential Unit transactions in 2025 and 30.8% in 2026 to date. This does not mean every buyer is purchasing for rent or that all studios are comparable. It shows the share of registered apartment-type transactions recorded as studios.

Top 15 areas by studio sales in 2025–2026

The table is ordered only by the number of registered studio transactions from 2025 to 26 October 2026. It is not a ranking of area quality, buildings, developers or future performance. The 15 areas below accounted for 55,610 transactions, or 75.5% of the 73,612 studio transactions registered in this period.

Area names follow the registry. Al Barsha South Fourth is Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) in the master-project field, while Madinat Al Mataar is associated primarily with Dubai World Central. For a separate breakdown, use JVC by DLD data.

Area in registry Sales Median price, AED Median AED/m² Median area, m² Off-plan
Madinat Al Mataar 8,352 644,356 18,666 34.0 94.6%
Al Barsha South Fourth 8,282 700,404 18,253 38.4 73.2%
Wadi Al Safa 5 6,199 679,881 16,992 39.4 92.5%
Business Bay 5,083 1,150,999 27,986 41.6 77.9%
Wadi Al Safa 3 4,710 689,999 18,677 37.8 91.9%
Me’Aisem First 3,953 619,200 15,750 37.8 83.6%
Al Barshaa South Second 3,192 854,000 21,374 41.5 97.1%
Al Barshaa South Third 2,792 680,452 17,216 39.5 65.1%
Al Barsha South Fifth 2,355 744,397 19,580 36.3 87.5%
Wadi Al Safa 4 2,263 593,000 18,449 32.0 99.7%
Al Hebiah Fourth 1,889 595,000 14,760 40.5 53.3%
Al Merkadh 1,740 704,996 21,926 33.4 16.0%
Jabal Ali Industrial Second 1,712 646,185 18,823 36.2 90.3%
Jabal Ali First 1,570 620,000 16,219 39.2 54.2%
Nadd Hessa 1,518 725,380 19,877 38.0 68.3%

Median prices in this list range from AED 593,000 to AED 1,150,999, median areas from 32.0 to 41.6 m², and off-plan shares from 16.0% to 99.7%; all 15 areas are shown in the table.

Studio price bands: can you buy below AED 500,000?

Yes. There were 7,861 studio transactions below AED 500,000 across 2025 and 2026 to 26 October. This was 10.7% of all studio sales during the combined period. A lower transaction price does not establish the condition, handover status, charges, occupancy or legal position of an individual unit.

Transaction price Sales, 2025–2026 Share Sales in 2025 Sales in 2026 to 26 October
Below AED 500,000 7,861 10.7% 4,906 2,955
AED 500,000–750,000 38,792 52.7% 19,389 19,403
AED 750,000–1 million 16,589 22.5% 10,148 6,441
AED 1–1.5 million 8,672 11.8% 5,935 2,737
Above AED 1.5 million 1,698 2.3% 1,418 280

The AED 500,000–750,000 band was the largest one: 46.4% of studio sales in 2025 and 61.0% in 2026 to date. These are transaction bands, not a list of currently available units.

Projects with the most registered studio transactions

Project names are written as registered. A project may include more than one tower or block, and 3,495 studio transactions in the period had no project name recorded. The list below is ordered by transaction count only.

Project Area Sales Median price, AED Off-plan
Binghatti Skyrise Business Bay 1,890 1,200,000 100.0%
AZIZI VENICE 14 Madinat Al Mataar 1,741 620,000 100.0%
Binghatti Elite Me’Aisem First 1,646 500,000 100.0%
Binghatti Vintage Wadi Al Safa 3 1,258 703,999 100.0%
Azizi Venice 6 Madinat Al Mataar 1,029 725,800 100.0%
Maybach Six Nad Al Shiba First 839 1,369,000 100.0%
AZIZI VENICE 7 Madinat Al Mataar 768 639,970 100.0%
Skyhills Astra Al Barshaa South Second 742 894,000 100.0%
DAMAC LAGOONS – VALENCIA Al Hebiah Fifth 718 733,000 100.0%
Binghatti Hillviews Al Barshaa South Second 684 861,000 100.0%
Binghatti Aquarise Business Bay 678 1,192,999 100.0%
Azizi Venice 15 Madinat Al Mataar 669 691,000 100.0%
Azizi Milan Heights Wadi Al Safa 4 659 600,000 100.0%
Binghatti Skyflame 1 Wadi Al Safa 3 642 550,000 100.0%
azizi venice 13 Madinat Al Mataar 573 648,450 100.0%

All 15 project entries are recorded as off-plan. The top 15 project entries accounted for 14,536 studio transactions, equal to 19.7% of studio sales in the period.

Studio rents by area and gross yield

In 2025, there were 98,689 registered studio rental contracts in Dubai, with a median annual rent of AED 40,000 and median area of 41.0 m². In 2026 to 26 October, there were 79,443 contracts and the citywide median annual rent remained AED 40,000. These counts include new agreements and renewals.

Area Median annual rent 2025 Median annual rent 2026 to 26 October Gross yield, 2025 Check using AED/m², 2025
Madinat Al Mataar AED 40,000 AED 40,000 6.5% 5.7%
Al Barsha South Fourth AED 48,000 AED 46,200 6.9% 6.5%
Wadi Al Safa 5 AED 37,000 AED 38,000 5.5% 5.3%
Business Bay AED 69,942 AED 62,000 6.0% 5.6%
Wadi Al Safa 3 AED 37,500 AED 39,600 5.3% 4.4%
Me’Aisem First AED 36,000 AED 38,000 6.0% 5.9%
Al Barshaa South Second AED 47,000 AED 45,000 5.5% 5.6%
Al Barshaa South Third AED 45,000 AED 45,000 6.7% 6.6%
Al Barsha South Fifth AED 45,000 AED 44,432 6.2% 5.8%
Wadi Al Safa 4 — — — —
Al Hebiah Fourth AED 40,000 AED 40,000 6.7% 6.5%
Al Merkadh AED 50,000 AED 48,000 7.2% 7.1%
Jabal Ali Industrial Second AED 45,000 AED 44,000 8.6% 8.5%
Jabal Ali First AED 42,000 AED 43,000 6.7% 5.5%
Nadd Hessa AED 39,000 AED 41,000 5.2% 4.5%

The table lists all 15 areas, in the same order as the sales table (by number of transactions). Jabal Ali Industrial Second (8.6%) rests on 198 sales in 2025, a small sample. Wadi Al Safa 4 has no yield figure because there were fewer than 30 qualifying studio rental contracts in 2025. No median rent is shown for that area: there were zero qualifying contracts in 2025 and 16 in 2026 to 26 October.

Gross yield is median annual rent divided by median sale price for the same area and year. It is not the return of a specific apartment: rental and sales medians come from two independent samples, and Ejari data does not separate off-plan from ready homes. The citywide 2025 calculation was AED 40,000 divided by AED 709,207, or 5.6%; the check based on AED/m² was 5.4%.

These are gross figures before service charges, leasing costs, vacancy between tenants and the DLD registration fee. A calculation of net yield requires the specific unit’s charges and operating facts; see how to calculate net apartment yield in Dubai. No yield figure here is a promise of rental income.

Studio versus one-bedroom apartment

2025 Studio One bedroom
Sales 41,796 73,889
Median sale price AED 709,207 AED 1,253,000
Median AED/m² AED 18,552 AED 17,625
Median area 38.9 m² 72.3 m²
Median annual rent AED 40,000 AED 57,000
Calculated gross yield 5.6% 4.5%

In 2025, the median studio transaction price was 43.4% lower than the median one-bedroom price. The median studio price per m² was higher: AED 18,552 against AED 17,625. The studio rent median was AED 40,000, compared with AED 57,000 for one bedroom.

In 2026 to 26 October, the median studio price was AED 674,884 and the one-bedroom median was AED 1,240,000. Median rents were AED 40,000 and AED 60,000 respectively. The calculated gross yields were 5.9% for studios and 4.8% for one-bedroom apartments, with the same limitations on independent sale and rent samples.

Off-plan, ready studios and points to check for a specific unit

A buyer considering an off-plan studio should distinguish a registered off-plan sale from a ready, rentable apartment. In 2026 to date, 82.1% of studio transactions were off-plan. Ejari rental contracts do not distinguish off-plan from ready homes.

For a ready studio, the registered area should be checked against the specific title and transaction documents. The citywide median studio area was 38.9 m² in 2025 and 36.2 m² in 2026 to 26 October. Area affects both the AED/m² purchase comparison and the recurring service-charge calculation.

Service charges are unit-specific and are commonly stated per square foot or per m². The figures above do not deduct them. The practical task is to obtain the applicable service-charge information for the building and calculate it against the registered area; service charges and their effect on property returns explains the calculation framework.

If a ready unit has a tenant, the buyer needs the actual contract terms, contract dates, registered rent and occupancy position for that property. A city median rent is not evidence of the rent under an existing agreement. The procedure is outlined in buying an apartment with a tenant in Dubai.

The broker can explain transaction data, help compare registered units, prepare transaction documents and coordinate the purchase process. Payments on off-plan properties go through the developer’s escrow account; deals on ready homes are formalised through a registration trustee’s office. Tax treatment, ownership structure, contract interpretation, banking and finance require advice from the relevant tax adviser, lawyer or bank.

Budgets seen in registered deals

The price-band table above shows how studio deals were distributed by transaction price. For a broader price comparison across apartment types, see apartment prices in Dubai; completed stock is listed in the catalogue of ready apartments.

What the registry does not show

The registry records prices, areas and dates. It does not show finishing quality, infrastructure, views, noise or the surroundings; these are checked on site and against the documents.

See also: villas and townhouses by DLD data · all 18 districts by DLD data.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a studio in Dubai cost by registered transactions?

The citywide median studio sale price was AED 709,207 in 2025 and AED 674,884 in 2026 to 26 October. These are medians for registered residential studio sales, not asking prices.

Can I buy a studio in Dubai under AED 500,000?

Yes. There were 2,955 registered studio transactions below AED 500,000 in 2026 to 26 October and 4,906 in 2025. The under-AED-500,000 band represented 9.3% of 2026 studio transactions to date.

Where were there more studio sales?

Madinat Al Mataar had 8,352 studio sales in 2025–2026 to 26 October, followed by Al Barsha South Fourth with 8,282 and Wadi Al Safa 5 with 6,199. This is a transaction-count order only.

What is the typical studio size?

The median studio area was 38.9 m² in 2025 and 36.2 m² in 2026 to 26 October. In the combined 2025–2026 area table, the median was 37.8 m².

What is the studio rental yield in Dubai?

The calculated citywide gross yield was 5.6% in 2025, based on a median annual rent of AED 40,000 and median sale price of AED 709,207. It is before service charges, vacancy, commissions and the DLD registration fee.

What is the gross yield of a studio and a one-bedroom apartment by 2025 medians?

For the 2025 citywide median calculation, studios were 5.6% and one-bedroom apartments were 4.5%. This compares separate sales and rental samples and does not predict the return of an individual apartment.

What share of studio deals are off-plan?

Off-plan accounted for 76.1% of studio transactions in 2025 and 82.1% in 2026 to 26 October; across 2025–2026 the share was 78.7%. Rental contracts do not identify off-plan status.

To compare a studio purchase against your budget, intended use and the available registered evidence for a specific unit, arrange a consultation.

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PDF shortlist · updated 27 October 2026

Studios and 1-bedroom apartments up to AED 1.5M

30 projects · prices from DLD and developers

30 more in the PDF: prices, handover dates, payment plans

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