ROI analysis of apartment in Nautica One: DLD data and real deals

1. Definition of the area and data structure

Actual location: According to DLD, the NAUTICA ONE building is located in the Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah area and is part of the Dubai Maritime City master project. The DLD database records 355 transactions for this asset; the bulk of them occurred in 2024.

There is no separate data on studio (0BR) sales for this building; the average analysis is carried out for all apartments in NAUTICA ONE (with sizes from 20–250 m² — a typical apartment range).

2. Transaction analysis and price dynamics in NAUTICA ONE

Demand structure and liquidity:
In 2024, NAUTICA ONE accounted for 330 transactions, with peak activity in Q1 2024 (229 transactions). In 2025 (as of the extraction date), 19 transactions have already been recorded — demand remains consistently strong, indicating high liquidity for a new building that is actively selling at the construction stage.

Average price per square meter dynamics for the building:
– Q4 2023: 24,918 AED/m² (4 transactions)
– Q1 2024: 25,151 AED/m² (229 transactions)
– Q2 2024: 25,567 AED/m² (94 transactions)
– Q3 2024: 25,560 AED/m² (4 transactions)
– Q4 2024: 24,851 AED/m² (3 transactions)
– In 2025 quarters for which data is available: prices range from 25,753 to 29,595 AED/m², but the transaction volume here is small.

The average price per square meter over the last 12 months amounted to 26,305 AED/m² based on transactions in NAUTICA ONE (21 transactions over the year).

Comparison with the area:
On average in Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah over the last 12 months, the achieved transaction price is higher — 31,137 AED/m² (4,226 transactions), and quarterly price growth was more pronounced. This indicates that NAUTICA ONE was offered to investors with a small discount to the area average, which is typical for projects at an early sales stage.

3. Rental market analysis

No direct data on apartment rentals in NAUTICA ONE was found in the DLD database — a typical situation for off-plan projects at the handover stage. At the Dubai Maritime City master-project level, for residential assets (Residential) with reasonable filters (annual rent above 1,000 AED and area over 10 m²), 477 contracts are recorded — a substantial level of market activity for analysis, but only at the master-project level.

However, actual averages and dynamics of rental rates (per m² per year) for apartments in NAUTICA ONE itself are missing, and there is also no area-level rental data for Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah in the DLD extract (no SQL query with such filters returned any result).

4. Comparative analysis of returns and fair price

ROI (yield) for NAUTICA ONE and for the area cannot be calculated correctly from DLD data: there are no confirmed DLD rental contracts for apartments either for the building itself or for the area — only the total number of contracts at the master-project level without a breakdown by units and areas. Therefore, it is impossible to determine a conservative market yield (ROI_brutto and ROI_net) for an investor.

Accordingly, it is not possible to reliably estimate an investment fair price range at a target yield of 7–8% per annum: there is no confirmed DLD statistics on rental rates to derive a fair price benchmark (for this, valid data on average annual rent per m² is always required).

5. General conclusions on prospects

– NAUTICA ONE is a liquid project with strong demand and a large transaction volume; the main pool of buyers are investors focused on leasing after completion.
– The price dynamics for the building are in line with the broader market: there has been no growth over the year, and prices remain stable. There is a small discount to the area (~15–20%), which is typical for off-plan sales and new launches within a large master project.
– The Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah/Dubai Maritime City area is currently in an active development phase, and new neighboring projects are being launched at prices higher than the initial levels in NAUTICA ONE.
– There is no DLD-confirmed apartment rental market data for the building and the area — this prevents a robust assessment of the project’s yield and any firm conclusion on how well the purchase price fits a “buy-to-let” investment model.
– For a potential investor, the key issue will be the income side: it is recommended to research market rental rates in Dubai Maritime City in advance using third-party aggregators and to clarify the potential tenant pool with property management companies.
– Over a 3–5 year horizon, as the area stabilizes, price appreciation with convergence towards the average level for Dubai Maritime City is possible; however, the final investment yield will be determined by actual rental rates after the building is handed over.