How to buy an apartment in Dubai in Terraces Marasi Drive – analysis 2025 — 20.01.2026

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 hesitating between a 1-bedroom and a studio in the same building? The data for Terraces Marasi Drive in Business Bay clearly shows that one-beds here are a core product: there is an active resale market, visible rental demand and a calculated gross yield of around 7.4% based on the current listing sample. In this article we will walk through prices, demand, rental figures and liquidity so you can make a rational choice between a compact studio strategy and a more universal 1-bedroom apartment.

The analysis below is based on a concrete dataset for this building: 30 sales transactions (mix of ready and off-plan), current sales and rental listings, and pre-calculated ROI indicators. These numbers do not cover the entire Dubai market; they show how this particular asset class is behaving right now and how it fits into the wider Business Bay context.

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Before you decide whether to focus on a 1-bedroom or a studio in Terraces Marasi Drive, you need to understand three macro realities of today’s Dubai market: price level, yield expectations and the role of Business Bay as a rental magnet.

Over the last years Dubai has shifted from a purely speculative, off-plan driven cycle into a more balanced mix of end-user and investor demand. In our sample for Terraces Marasi Drive, 56.7% of analysed sales are off-plan and 43.3% are ready units. This split is typical for a location that is attractive both for early investors and for occupiers who want keys in hand.

For investors across Dubai, gross yields around 6–8% on good-quality stock in central locations are now considered healthy. In Terraces Marasi Drive, the pre-computed gross yield for 1-bedroom apartments is about 7.39% based on a median sale price of 2.2M AED and an estimated median annual rent of 162,500 AED. This sits in the upper band of what core locations in Dubai are delivering today.

Business Bay specifically has become one of the most liquid mixed-use districts. It attracts professionals working in Downtown, DIFC and along Sheikh Zayed Road, as well as short-term guests when buildings allow holiday homes. In this context, a 1-bedroom usually sits in the “sweet spot”: more liveable than a studio for end users and couples, but still efficient enough in size to keep yields attractive.

When you consider how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai versus hunting for a studio, remember that the wider Dubai market is now rewarding quality, layout and location more than ultra-low ticket sizes. That supports the case for well-configured 1-beds in prime buildings over smaller but compromised units.

Deal history for the building: price and demand dynamics

In our dataset for Terraces Marasi Drive we analysed 30 sale transactions for 1-bedroom apartments over roughly 594 days, from late March 2024 to mid-November 2025. This gives us a clear picture of pricing and demand momentum inside the building.

The overall median price across this sample is about 2,005,500 AED, with a median price per square foot around 1,741 AED. Over the last 12 months within this period, the median sale price in the sample rose to approximately 2,200,000 AED and the median price per square foot to about 1,845 AED. That points to an upward trend in achieved prices for 1-beds, even as the building matures.

Looking at individual transactions from the recent sample illustrates the range. We see ready 1-bed deals such as:

• Around 1.9M AED for roughly 1,086 sq ft (about 1,750 AED/sq ft)
• Around 2.2M–2.28M AED for 1,080–1,270 sq ft (roughly 1,800–2,000 AED/sq ft)
• A higher-spec 1-bed at about 3.13M AED for roughly 1,511 sq ft (around 2,072 AED/sq ft)

This dispersion suggests that layout, view, floor height and fit-out level matter significantly in this building. Corner or larger 1-beds, sometimes configured as loft or duplex-style units, can sit in a very different price bracket to compact 1-beds that are closer to studio logic in terms of efficiency.

In our sample, 13 of the 30 sales over the period are ready units, with 17 off-plan. The ready segment clearly cleared at robust price per square foot levels, signalling that buyers have confidence in the delivered product. Monthly deal flow in the last 12 months sits at around 1.08 transactions in the analysed dataset, which, for a single building, indicates consistent activity rather than sporadic, distressed sales.

Comparing a typical studio (not in this dataset but in wider Business Bay benchmarks) to these 1-beds, studios often transact at a higher price per square foot but a lower ticket size. Here, 1-beds in Terraces Marasi Drive have managed to protect both ticket and psf levels, which is important when you evaluate capital preservation and exit liquidity.

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

Active listings tell you what kind of competition you will face as a buyer or later as a landlord looking to resell. In our current listing sample for Terraces Marasi Drive, there are 27 units for sale, all completed, with a median asking price around 2,250,000 AED and a median asking price per square foot of roughly 2,036 AED. The median size for 1-bed listings is about 1,149 sq ft, noticeably larger than many standard Dubai one-bed layouts, which often hover around 700–850 sq ft.

The relationship between asking and achieved prices matters. The pre-computed overheat metric shows that current asking price per square foot across listings is about 10% higher than the median sold price per square foot in the recent transaction dataset (ask-to-sold psf ratio of 1.1). In practice, this means:

• Sellers are currently pricing ahead of the last recorded deals
• As a buyer, you should underwrite negotiations with at least a 5–10% margin off asking, depending on unit specifics
• For top-tier layouts with exceptional views or large terraces, paying closer to asking can still make sense if rental or resale premiums are clear

On the rental side, our sample shows 8 active listings for 1-bedroom units, with a median advertised annual rent around 162,500 AED and a median price per square foot of about 145 AED. Apartment sizes in the rental sample are similar to the sales stock (median circa 1,128.5 sq ft), reinforcing the view that these 1-beds function as full-scale homes rather than “large studios”.

Liquidity is another key indicator. Based on the last 12 months of sales data for this building and the current volume of listings, the estimated months of inventory stands around 25 months in the analysed metrics. For a buyer, this means you are entering a market where:

• There is reasonable choice of 1-beds to compare and negotiate
• Sellers may need to be flexible on price or terms to stand out
• Unique layouts and high-quality fit-outs become increasingly important when you think about your own future exit

In this context, choosing between a studio and a 1-bed becomes a strategic decision: studios typically clear faster due to the lower ticket size, but the available data here indicates that one-beds in Terraces Marasi Drive have enough transactional depth to give you confidence in liquidity if priced correctly.

Current sale listings in this building

Listed Date	Price Value	Size Sqft	Price Psf	Status
2026-01-19	2350000	1301	1806	completed
2026-01-16	2150000	1002	2146	completed
2026-01-16	3249900	1517	2142	completed
2026-01-14	2450000	1300	1885	completed
2026-01-12	3300000	1517	2175	completed
2026-01-12	3300000	1516	2177	completed
2026-01-06	2200000	1000	2200	completed
2026-01-05	2200000	1149	1915	completed
2026-01-05	2175000	1084	2006	completed
2026-01-02	2179999	1085	2009	completed

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

For any buyer comparing a studio to a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive, the key question is which format will deliver a better risk-adjusted yield. The advantage in this building currently sits with 1-beds, for a few reasons grounded in the numbers.

The pre-computed ROI model for the building uses a median sale price of about 2,200,000 AED and an estimated median annual rent of roughly 162,500 AED for a 1-bedroom apartment. That translates into a gross yield of approximately 7.39% and a price-to-rent ratio near 13.5 years. For a core Business Bay address, this is a strong combination of income and capital value.

How is this ROI derived in practice?

• Take the purchase price (for example, 2.2M AED based on the recent median in our transaction sample)
• Estimate achievable rent (our current listing sample indicates around 155,000–195,000 AED per year, with a median about 162,500 AED)
• Gross yield = annual rent / purchase price × 100% → around 7.4%
• Price-to-rent ratio = purchase price / annual rent → about 13.5 years

For studios in similar Business Bay towers, yields can sometimes show slightly higher percentages on paper due to lower entry price and strong short-term rental demand. However, studios are more exposed to volatility in tourism and to oversupply of smaller units. In contrast, a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive targets a broader tenant base: single professionals, couples, and even some small families willing to pay for larger, riverfront-style layouts.

Another nuance is apartment size. With a median of about 1,149 sq ft in the sales listings and around 1,128.5 sq ft in the rental sample, these 1-beds deliver generous space. This allows you to position the unit at the upper end of the rental market: semi-luxury, lifestyle-driven tenants rather than purely budget-conscious. As a result, you can focus more on tenant quality and lease stability than on maximising headcount, which is often the logic behind buying studios.

When you think about how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai from an ROI standpoint, the checklist is straightforward:

• Use recent per-square-foot achieved prices (around 1,845 AED psf for the last 12 months in the sample) as your negotiation anchor rather than headline asking psf
• Underwrite rent at or slightly below current median listings (150,000–160,000 AED) to keep your assumptions conservative
• Stress-test your yield by assuming one month of vacancy and deducting service charges to evaluate net yield tolerance

If, after this stress test, the 1-bedroom still looks comfortable in the 6–7% net range, it will likely be more resilient than an aggressively priced studio that relies heavily on perfect occupancy or very high nightly rates.

Seller strategy: how to prepare and sell this type of apartment in Dubai

Even though your current question is whether to buy a studio or a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive, it is smart to think one step ahead: how easily could you resell this unit when your horizon changes? The existing data suggests a clear playbook for 1-bed sellers in this building.

First, pricing. With a median sold price in the recent sample around 2.2M AED and a median asking level roughly 2.25M AED, the gap between realistic transaction levels and listing ambitions is not huge but still meaningful. Buyers who understand the building’s numbers will negotiate firmly, especially when they see a 10% ask-versus-sold price per square foot spread. As a future seller, your best strategy will be to:

• Price your unit within 3–5% of the latest comparable sold psf for similar size and view
• Avoid overreliance on outlier transactions at 3M+ AED unless your unit genuinely matches them in layout and finishes
• Accept that a transparent, data-backed price is more efficient than listing high and “testing the market” for months

Second, product preparation. Most of the active 1-bed listings in our sample are fully furnished, with amenities such as kitchen appliances, private or shared gym, Jacuzzi, and attractive balconies. Tenants and buyers in this segment now expect a turn-key feel in Business Bay. To secure a stronger price and faster transaction as a future seller, you will want to:

• Invest in a neutral, contemporary furniture package if you plan to sell furnished
• Highlight unique features like water or Burj Khalifa views, larger terraces or duplex layouts
• Keep service and maintenance history well documented, especially for air conditioning and water-related systems

Third, timing. Our liquidity metrics indicate around 1.08 deals per month in the analysed sample and about 25 months of inventory at current listing volumes. That means you should not expect an instant sale at any price. Instead, your leverage as a seller will come from:

• Bringing an objectively superior unit (view, layout, condition) to a crowded 1-bed segment
• Aligning your asking price with evidence-based benchmarks right from the start
• Working with an agency that can articulate the building’s yield story to investors, not just its lifestyle appeal to end users

If you end up acquiring a 1-bedroom rather than a studio, your future seller strategy will be built on the same pillars: smart acquisition price versus real market data, careful unit upgrade and positioning, and a clear narrative of why your apartment outperforms the average Terraces Marasi Drive stock.

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

From a professional investor standpoint, the choice between a studio and a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive is a question of risk profile, exit optionality and tenant depth. The existing figures for 1-beds give several strong arguments in their favour.

First, income stability. The current rental listing sample shows 1-bedroom asking rents mainly between 155,000 and 195,000 AED per year, with a median of about 162,500 AED. These levels attract a comparatively mature tenant audience: corporate professionals, couples and long-stay residents who are less price-sensitive than short-term tourists. Studios can offer slightly higher yields in the best case but are more exposed to downturns in tourism or changes in short-term rental regulation.

Second, capital growth and protection. In our sales dataset, the median price for 1-beds has already moved upwards over the analysed period, with the last 12 months posting a median of around 2.2M AED versus roughly 2.0M AED across the broader 594-day window. For an investor assessing how to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai today, this upward drift suggests that the building is still in its price discovery phase but has enough transactional history to give confidence in long-term value.

Third, liquidity risk. With 27 active sale listings in our sample and an estimated 25 months of inventory, an investor will classify this as a market where selectivity is critical. It is not illiquid, but you do not have unlimited pricing power. This reinforces two rules:

• Only buy units that have a clear, defensible differentiator (view corridor, corner orientation, duplex, larger terrace)
• Avoid paying a premium simply for high-end furniture or minor cosmetic upgrades that are easy to replicate

Fourth, off-plan versus ready. In the wider transaction dataset, 56.7% of the analysed deals are off-plan. For studios, off-plan purchases can sometimes deliver quicker percentage gains if you buy early in the launch cycle. But they also lock you into completion and handover risk. In this building, where ready 1-beds already show a solid yield profile and evident rental demand, many investors will prefer the tangibility of keys-in-hand units.

Finally, investment horizons. A rational investor looking at Terraces Marasi Drive will typically model three scenarios for a 1-bedroom purchase:

• Short-term (1–3 years): Focus on income, accepting that capital appreciation may be modest from current levels while the building consolidates
• Medium-term (3–7 years): Expect moderate price growth alongside improving community reputation and infrastructure in Business Bay, with yields normalising as rents and prices both rise
• Long-term (7+ years): Treat the asset as a durable, income-producing core holding in a central location, where the primary risk becomes macroeconomic or regulatory rather than building-specific

Against this framework, a studio is a more tactical bet, often tied to short-term rental returns, while a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive is closer to a core, income-plus-growth asset. For most buyers who plan to use the apartment themselves or hold it as a long-term investment, the 1-bedroom profile is more balanced and, based on the current dataset, better supported by actual transaction and rental evidence.

Summary and answers to common questions

Putting all the numbers together, the case for choosing a 1-bedroom over a studio in Terraces Marasi Drive is strong. In our analysed dataset, 1-beds show:

• Median sale prices around 2.2M AED in the last 12 months, with solid price per square foot performance
• Median asking rents around 162,500 AED per year on current listings
• An indicative gross yield of about 7.39% and a price-to-rent ratio of roughly 13.5 years
• Consistent deal activity and a healthy mix of off-plan and ready transactions

Studios, by contrast, may offer a lower entry ticket and slightly higher headline yields in some buildings, but they carry more exposure to short-term market swings and have a narrower end-user base. In a building like Terraces Marasi Drive, where 1-beds are large, well-appointed and clearly in demand, many buyers will find that the 1-bedroom format offers a better blend of comfort, liquidity and long-term investment logic.

Frequently asked questions

Is now a good time to buy a 1-bedroom in Terraces Marasi Drive compared to a studio?
Based on our current sample of 1-bedroom sales and rentals, yields are attractive and prices have shown upward momentum. If you prioritise stability and future resale options, a 1-bed here looks more balanced than a studio-focused strategy.

What budget should I plan for when buying a 1-bedroom here?
Most recent 1-bed transactions in our dataset cluster around the 2.0–2.3M AED mark, with some premium units above 3M AED. Current listings show a median asking level near 2.25M AED. You should also account for acquisition costs (transfer fee, agency fee, trustee and registration) on top of the purchase price.

What rent can I realistically expect?
Our rental listing sample suggests a realistic band of roughly 150,000–170,000 AED per year for well-presented 1-beds, depending on view, size and furniture. Ultra-premium or unique layouts can push above this range, but it is safer to underwrite your numbers using conservative assumptions.

How to buy a 1-bedroom apartment in Terraces Marasi Drive Dubai in a safe, data-driven way?
Work through three steps: first, benchmark each target unit against the recent achieved prices and current listings per square foot; second, run a yield and cash-flow model using conservative rent and vacancy assumptions; third, review legal documentation, service charges and building rules to ensure there are no restrictions that would affect your preferred rental strategy.

Should I still consider a studio in this building?
A studio can make sense if your priority is the lowest possible entry ticket or a speculative bet on short-term rentals. But for most end users and long-term investors focused on Terraces Marasi Drive, the 1-bedroom format currently offers a clearer combination of lifestyle quality, depth of demand and data-supported returns.