How to buy an apartment in Dubai in Terraces Marasi Drive – analysis 2025

How to buy a home in Terraces Marasi Drive – in this article we analyse real transaction data, prices, rental yields and liquidity for owners and investors.

For clarity, we may refer to the same unit as an apartment, a property, or a home depending on context.

How to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai

How to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai if you are torn between a compact studio and a larger one-bedroom? In this building in Business Bay, almost all registered sales in our sample are 1-bedroom layouts, which makes it easier to see how the real market is pricing this format, how quickly units move, and what sort of rent and returns you can expect once you own.

Based on the analysed dataset for Terraces Marasi Drive, 1-bedroom units are trading around the AED 2.0–2.2M mark, with strong rental asking levels around AED 160,000 per year. Studios in this project are either absent from the current data or so rare that they do not form a reliable price pattern. That already hints at the key message: if you want liquidity, transparent pricing and predictable rent, the 1-bedroom segment in this building looks like the “reference” product, while studios are more of a niche bet.

Below we break down how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai step by step: from understanding the wider Dubai market and this building’s transaction history, to evaluating asking prices, rent and ROI, and finally designing your personal strategy as an end user or investor.

What you must know about the Dubai market before buying here

Related Articles

• Safety in Dubai: What Property Buyers and Expats Must Know Before Investing or Relocating
• How to buy an unit in Dubai in Pearl House – analysis 2025
• ROI analysis of apartment in Azizi Riviera 35: DLD data and real deals
• How to sell an unit in Dubai in Building 2 – analysis 2025
• ROI analysis of apartment in Marina Star: DLD data and real deals

Before you decide between a studio and a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive, you need to understand two things about Dubai today: the city is in an expansion phase, and prime central locations like Business Bay are increasingly dominated by larger, liveable layouts rather than micro-units.

In our sample, Terraces Marasi Drive shows 30 sales transactions over roughly 1.6 years, with 13 of them falling in the last 12 months. That is a healthy level of activity for a single tower and confirms that this is a live market rather than a frozen, speculative product. Importantly, 56.7% of the units in the dataset were sold off-plan and 43.3% as ready, which matches Dubai’s general pattern: investors and end users are comfortable combining construction-stage purchases with ready resale stock.

For a buyer comparing a studio and a 1-bedroom, Dubai’s broader context means:

• Demand is strong for central locations close to Downtown and the Canal, especially units that work both for self-use and for long-term rental.
• Banks are willing to finance 1-bedroom apartments in liquid projects more easily than atypical tiny studios, simply because there is more comparable sales history.
• Rental demand in Business Bay is driven by singles and couples working in DIFC, Downtown and SZR offices – exactly the profile that prefers a proper 1-bedroom over a studio, especially in the AED 150k+ annual rent segment.

All of this provides a favourable backdrop if you are considering how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai as a live-in home today with an exit or rental option in three to five years.

Deal history for the building: price and demand dynamics

The core of any decision between a studio and a 1-bedroom is simple: which format has a clear, proven price corridor and real, repeatable demand? In Terraces Marasi Drive, our entire transaction sample consists of 1-bedroom apartments, which gives unusually clean visibility on this specific format.

Across the 30 analysed sales transactions:

• Overall median sale price: around AED 2,005,500.
• Overall median price per square foot: about AED 1,741 psf.
• Time span of the dataset: from late March 2024 to mid-November 2025 (around 594 days).

Focusing on the most relevant recent period – the last 12 months – in our sample of 13 sales:

• Median sale price increased to around AED 2,200,000.
• Median price per square foot moved up to roughly AED 1,845 psf.
• Average deals per month: about 1.08 in this dataset, indicating consistent trading activity.

Individual ready transactions illustrate the spread. In 2025, the dataset includes 1-bedroom sales at roughly AED 1.9M–2.3M for standard apartments and up to around AED 3.13M for larger or premium units, with sizes typically between about 1,000 and 1,500 sq ft. Price per square foot in these examples ranges from about AED 1,480 to over AED 2,070 psf, depending mainly on layout, level, view and finishing.

For a buyer, this history answers three practical questions:

• Is there a transparent reference for negotiation? Yes: the AED 2.0–2.2M band for a “typical” 1-bedroom is well supported by recent data.
• Is liquidity sufficient to exit later? The sample of 13 deals over the last year suggests real depth of demand, not just a handful of isolated sales.
• Do studios offer the same clarity? Based on this dataset, no – studios are either absent or extremely rare, which makes it harder to benchmark their fair value or predict exit price.

If you are evaluating how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai, this transaction history is one of the strongest arguments in favour of the 1-bedroom format: you are buying into the most actively traded, best-documented product in the building.

Official data sources and live market tools

For readers who want to explore the raw data behind this analysis, here are the key open sources:

• 
  Dubai Land Department open data (historical transactions)
  
• 
  Property Finder – live listings and asking prices
  
• 
  Bayut – live listings and asking prices
  

Recent sales in this building

Transaction Date	Price	Property Size	Price Psf	Status
2025-11-12	2011000	1051	1913	Ready
2025-09-11	2200000	1315	1673	Ready
2025-09-01	3130000	1511	2072	Ready
2025-07-17	1900000	1086	1750	Ready
2025-05-13	2150000	1119	1922	Ready
2025-05-08	2200000	1080	2037	Ready
2025-05-07	2280000	1267	1799	Ready
2025-04-24	2000000	1351	1481	Ready
2025-02-28	2200000	1119	1966	Ready
2025-02-12	2000000	1084	1845	Ready

Current listings and liquidity: what apartments are really asking now

On the sales side, our sample of active listings in Terraces Marasi Drive shows 31 units for sale, all completed, almost entirely 1-bedroom configurations. This makes the building effectively a one-bedroom-focused product on the secondary market.

Key numbers from the listing dataset:

• Median asking price: about AED 2,200,000 – aligned with the recent median transaction price.
• Median asking price per square foot: around AED 2,036 psf.
• Median size: roughly 1,149 sq ft, which is generous for a 1-bedroom in Business Bay.

The building-level overheat metrics help you understand negotiation room. The median asking price per square foot is about 10% above the median achieved psf in the recent sales dataset (ask vs sold psf ratio 1.10). In practice, this typically means:

• Sellers are anchoring at around 8–12% above realistic deal levels.
• Serious buyers who come with financing pre-approval or cash and can move quickly often negotiate an effective discount towards the historical psf band.

Liquidity is where the difference between a studio and a 1-bedroom becomes very tangible. With 13 deals over the last 12 months and 31 active listings in the sample, the estimated months of inventory stands at about 28.7 months. That is a relatively high number, suggesting a buyers’ market: more choice than immediate demand.

For a 1-bedroom buyer, this is an advantage. You can afford to be selective on:

• View (canal, Downtown, internal community)
• Floor level
• Furnishing (the current stock includes both furnished and unfurnished units)
• Special layouts (some listings are large 1-bedroom duplexes above 1,500 sq ft)

For a studio, there is no comparable volume of data in this building. You might occasionally see a smaller unit advertised, but you would be negotiating in a thin, less transparent micro-market. If your priority is to buy at a price that you can later defend with evidence, the 1-bedroom segment clearly wins.

Current sale listings in this building

Listed Date	Price Value	Size Sqft	Price Psf	Status
2025-12-22	2200000	1149	1915	completed
2025-12-15	2450000	1300	1885	completed
2025-12-07	2250000	1105	2036	completed
2025-12-05	2990000	1573	1901	completed
2025-12-05	2100000	1250	1680	completed
2025-12-05	3100000	1569	1976	completed
2025-12-04	3199999	1517	2109	completed
2025-11-27	2450000	1300	1885	completed
2025-11-25	2100000	1002	2096	completed
2025-11-24	2250000	1001	2248	completed

Rent and yields: how ROI is calculated and what local numbers show

Once you narrow your choice to a 1-bedroom here, the next logical question is rental performance. Even if you plan to live in the unit, knowing the rent level matters for future exit and for a contingency plan if you relocate.

In our small but focused sample of rental listings for Terraces Marasi Drive, we see five active 1-bedroom units for rent, all in the same building:

• Median asking rent: about AED 160,000 per year.
• Median asking rent per square foot: roughly AED 151 psf.
• Median size: around 1,060 sq ft.

Using these numbers, the pre-computed ROI metrics for a typical 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive look as follows:

• Median sale price taken for ROI: around AED 2,200,000.
• Estimated median annual rent: AED 160,000.
• Indicative gross yield: about 7.27% per year.
• Price-to-rent ratio: roughly 13.75 years (sale price divided by annual rent).

How to read this as a buyer choosing between a studio and a 1-bedroom:

• A gross yield of around 7% in a central, canal-front Business Bay project is competitive for Dubai’s mid- to upper-tier rental stock.
• The price-to-rent ratio below 14 suggests that, from an investor’s perspective, the payback horizon is reasonable for a freehold property in a core business district.
• Studios might show slightly higher yields on paper in some buildings, but with much more volatile tenant turnover and weaker depth of demand in the AED 120k+ rent bracket.

From a practical “how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai” standpoint, you can use these benchmarks during due diligence:

• If you are offered a 1-bedroom at AED 2,400,000 and expect to rent it at AED 160,000, your gross yield drops closer to 6.7% – you should negotiate price or push rent expectations higher (for a premium view or upgraded fit-out).
• If you secure a unit near AED 2,100,000 and realistically rent it at AED 165,000–170,000, gross yield can move towards 7.5–8%, positioning your purchase at the upper end of returns for this micro-market.

The main limitation: our rental transaction history dataset for the building and the parent community is currently empty, so these ROI figures are based on listing evidence and internal estimates rather than registered rental contracts. They still give a solid directional picture, but any final decision should be confirmed against fresh rent offers at the time of purchase.

Seller strategy: why 1-bedrooms here are stronger than studios

Even if you are a buyer, it pays to think like a future seller. The same data that informs an owner’s sale strategy helps you understand your exit options and therefore how aggressive you can be on price right now.

In Terraces Marasi Drive, the seller of a 1-bedroom unit benefits from three structural advantages over a hypothetical studio owner:

• Clear comparables: our dataset spans 30 1-bedroom sales with a tight recent median around AED 2.2M, which helps serious buyers, valuers and banks agree on “fair value”.
• Established rental positioning: 1-bedrooms here clearly sit in the AED 155,000–170,000 asking rent corridor, which is attractive to white-collar tenants and corporate lets.
• Deep active stock: 31 sales listings and multiple rental listings in the building show that the market understands and accepts this format as the default product.

A seller will usually:

• List initially around 8–12% above the latest realised psf, in line with the current ask vs sold psf gap of 1.10.
• Test a premium if the unit is a corner layout, duplex, or has canal/skyline views.
• Be open to realistic negotiations from qualified buyers who can complete fast, especially in a market with roughly 28.7 months of inventory in this dataset.

For you as a buyer, the message is straightforward. Since 1-bedrooms in this building are the dominant, liquid format, you have:

• Room to negotiate down from asking to something closer to AED 1,800–1,900 psf on many units, depending on their specifics.
• More leverage on units that have been on the market since mid-2025 or earlier, particularly if they are generic, mid-floor apartments without standout features.
• A clearer resale narrative three to five years later, because you will be selling into a market already trained to price 1-bedroom stock in Terraces Marasi Drive.

A studio owner in the same building would be selling into a thinner market, with far fewer transaction precedents. That might look attractive if you find a distressed seller today, but it also means your own exit could be slower and more negotiation-heavy later. From an end-user buyer perspective, the 1-bedroom provides a more predictable cycle: buy, live, rent out later if needed, and then resell with solid comparables behind you.

How an investor sees this apartment: risks, scenarios and horizons

Looking at Terraces Marasi Drive purely through an investor lens helps clarify whether a 1-bedroom or a studio is the smarter call for someone who ultimately cares about total return and liquidity.

Baseline investment case for a 1-bedroom

Based on our sample, a typical investment scenario for a standard 1-bedroom could look like this:

• Entry price: AED 2.0M–2.2M, depending on view, size (around 1,050–1,200 sq ft) and furnishing.
• Annual rent: around AED 155,000–165,000, in line with current asking medians.
• Gross yield: approximately 7–7.5% in a realistic, non-optimistic case.
• Holding period: 3–7 years, to ride both capital appreciation and rent growth.

Because almost all available data relates to 1-bedrooms, the investor’s risk on pricing and exit is lower than with a studio; there is more empirical evidence on how the market behaves across different phases (off-plan to ready, launch to resale).

Key risks to consider

• Supply risk: Business Bay continues to see new launches. If several nearby projects hand over simultaneously, tenants may have more choice, pressuring rents in the short term.
• Overpricing risk: with current asking psf about 10% above recent achieved psf, paying full asking without negotiation can compress your yield by 0.5–1 percentage point.
• Liquidity risk: 28.7 months of inventory in this dataset suggests that selling may take time, especially for average units without unique selling points.

Why 1-bedrooms look safer than studios here

If you imagine how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai as an investor rather than a pure end user, the advantages over a studio stack up:

• Proven demand: the only consistent format traded in this building in our sample is the 1-bedroom, which reduces your “product risk”.
• Stronger tenant profile: professionals and couples willing to pay AED 150k+ for Business Bay canal proximity generally choose a 1-bedroom; studios tend to attract more price-sensitive tenants and higher churn.
• Bank valuation support: lenders and valuers can reference a deep pool of comparable 1-bedroom sales; studios could be more heavily haircut on a conservative valuation.

For an advanced investor, the optimal strategy in this building right now would usually be to target a well-located 1-bedroom at a small discount to the recent median price, with an eye to achieving at least a 7% gross yield and preserving flexibility to sell once the wider Business Bay cycle matures.

Summary and answers to common questions

Bringing the data together, the picture in Terraces Marasi Drive is unusually clear. The building’s resale and rental market in our dataset is almost entirely 1-bedroom-focused, with:

• Recent median purchase price around AED 2.2M.
• Current asking prices broadly aligned, albeit about 10% higher per square foot than recent achieved levels.
• Rental asking medians around AED 160,000 per year for 1-bedrooms of roughly 1,000–1,100 sq ft.
• Indicative gross yields near 7.27%, with scope to improve if you buy well and manage rent actively.

For a buyer thinking in practical terms about how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai, this means:

• You are choosing the most liquid, best-documented product type in the building.
• You have leverage to negotiate, thanks to relatively high months of inventory.
• You can underwrite your decision with clear evidence on both sale and rental value, something that is not currently possible at the same level for studios here.

Frequently asked questions

Is a studio in this building cheaper and therefore better value?
Studios will very likely be cheaper in absolute terms, but our dataset does not yet offer a robust pattern of studio transactions here. That makes it harder to benchmark fair value or predict exit price. For most buyers who value liquidity and clarity, a 1-bedroom is the safer, more transparent choice.

What budget should I plan for a good 1-bedroom here?
Most recent standard 1-bedroom deals in our sample fall in the AED 2.0M–2.3M band, with a median around AED 2.2M. Premium large layouts or duplexes can push towards AED 3.0M+. As a working range, plan for AED 2.0M–2.4M, plus acquisition costs.

How long should I expect to hold the property?
Given current yields and the development trajectory of Business Bay, a 3–7 year horizon is sensible. This allows time for rents to strengthen and for capital values to reflect the area’s ongoing maturation and infrastructure improvements.

Is now a good time to buy, or should I wait?
With asking prices only about 10% above recent achieved levels and a noticeable amount of inventory on the market, the current environment favours patient, well-informed buyers. If you negotiate close to the recent transaction psf and focus on a good layout and view, the data supports buying now rather than speculating on a significant price drop.

Choosing between a studio and a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive ultimately comes down to your priorities. If what you want is a home or investment with clear pricing, strong rental positioning and a proven resale track record, the numbers in this building point decisively towards the 1-bedroom format.