Methodology and data sources
What this site is
Property Radar compares Dubai off plan projects on public figures. It is not a developer, not a portal and not a rating agency. Each scored project gets a Property Radar score out of 100, built from up to fifteen measurable criteria described below, never from opinion. Every figure on the site is dated and attributed, and where a figure does not exist we say so instead of filling the gap.
Where the transaction figures come from
Prices, price per square foot and transaction counts come from the Dubai Land Department transactions published as open data on data.dubai, update of 3 November 2026 for project prices and of 16 October 2026 for community figures. Current project prices use the sales registered over the last 12 months, from 4 November 2025 to 2 November 2026; community figures, apartments only, cover 17 October 2025 to 15 October 2026. We publish medians, not averages, because a handful of penthouses distorts an average and tells the buyer nothing about what a normal unit costs.
Figures are shown per unit type, studio, one bedroom, two bedrooms and three bedrooms, because a single price per square foot for a whole building hides the fact that studios almost always carry a higher rate than three bedroom units.
How we compare a project to its community
For each unit type we compute the median price per square foot in the project and the median price per square foot in the surrounding community, over the same period and the same data. The difference is expressed as a percentage above or below. A project that sits above its community median is not a bad buy, it simply has to justify the premium with something, a view, a brand, a finish level or a location inside the community.
We also publish the number of sales of that unit type registered over the last 12 months, in the project and in the community. It is a liquidity signal. A unit type that trades often is easier to resell than one that almost never changes hands.
New-build price vs the secondary market
For each community and unit type we compare two medians drawn from the same 12 month transaction set: the price per square foot of brand new off plan units sold by a developer, registered under the procedure Sell – Pre registration, against the price per square foot of completed units resold in the same community, registered under the procedure Sale. This gap gives the new-build price vs the secondary market.
Read it carefully, because it is not a like for like comparison. New off plan stock is newer, better finished and sometimes branded, while the resale market in the same community includes buildings delivered ten or twenty years ago. A large gap therefore says the two are different products rather than that buyers are being overcharged. A small or negative gap is the more interesting signal: it means the off plan price sits close to, or below, what the existing market actually pays for a finished home in the same place.
The figures cover the sales registered with the Dubai Land Department between 17 October 2025 and 15 October 2026. We publish a premium only where both sides have at least five registered sales, which is why some communities and unit types have none.
Price trend since 2023
Each project page shows how the median price per square foot of completed apartments resold in its community moved since 2023, year by year, from the same Dubai Land Department data. We use resales of finished homes because they compare like with like from one year to the next, while new launches change the mix of what is sold. We only show a series we trust: at least 30 resales every year, and no jump of more than 30% from one year to the next. Where a community fails that test, the page shows the same series for the whole of Dubai and says so.
The Property Radar score
The score is out of 100. Each criterion is marked out of 100, then weighted. A criterion without data is left out and the total is recalculated on the criteria actually measured; the page lists the missing ones and lets you ask our advisors for them. A project needs at least five of the fifteen criteria to be scored.
General score: developer track record (24: projects delivered 10, projects on time 8, cancelled projects 6), price per square foot of the project compared with the area (11), net rental yield (9), construction progress (7), payments into an escrow account (6), new-build price compared with the secondary market (6), ease of resale in the area (6), nearest metro station (6), new-build price compared with the same developer's secondary market (5), share of the price paid before handover (5), handover date (5), size compared with the area (5), scarcity of the home in the project (5).
Score for your goal: once the questionnaire is complete, the same criteria are weighted for your goal. Rental income: net rental yield 22, developer track record 13, nearest metro station 12, price per square foot 11, size 9, scarcity 9. Capital growth: developer track record 20, price per square foot 17, new-build price 12, nearest metro station 9, scarcity 9. Protect my capital: developer track record 36, ease of resale 13, escrow 13, construction progress 13. A home to live in: developer track record 22, handover date 18, size 16, nearest metro station 14, construction progress 12. Golden Visa: only homes priced at 2,000,000 AED or more are scored, developer track record 25. When the main criterion of a goal is missing, the score is marked incomplete.
Metro: 100 points within 500 m, 80 at 1 km, 50 at 2 km, 20 at 3 km and none beyond 4 km, in a straight line from the project to the nearest open station. A planned Blue Line station, opening planned in September 2029, counts for 80%. The Gold Line announced in April 2026 is shown for information only until its station locations are published. Size: median area of the unit type in the project's registered sales, against the same type in the same Dubai Land Department area, 2023 to 2026. Scarcity: number of homes of the same type registered by the developer in the project, file of 23 October 2026; the fewer there are, the higher the mark.
Handover and payments: handover date, 100 points for handover within 2 years and none at 6 years or more; share of the price paid before handover, 100 points at 40% or less and none at 90%.
The score measures known, documented risk. It is not a forecast and not a promise of return, and it does not cover the contractor or the actual gap against the date first announced.
Rental yields
Gross yields are computed from registered rent contracts for the community and unit type, against resale prices of completed units in the same community, restricted to ready stock so that off plan prices do not contaminate the calculation. Yields are gross, before service charges, agency fees and vacancy. A community without ready stock has no yield, and we leave it blank rather than borrow a number from somewhere else.
Project status, escrow and construction progress
The RERA project registration number, the project status, the escrow bank, the construction progress and the inspection dates come from the Dubai Land Department Mashrooi project status enquiry, read on 18 October 2026. Construction progress is the percentage recorded at the last official inspection, not the percentage the developer communicates.
We publish the bank that holds the escrow account, and whether the project has one at all, because an escrow account is what protects instalments paid before delivery. We do not publish the account number. It serves no purpose for a buyer at this stage, and payment instructions must always be confirmed directly with the developer.
The completion date we show is the one registered with the Dubai Land Department. It often differs from the handover date a developer advertises, and the gap is itself useful information.
Developer track records
A developer often registers its projects under several companies. Each developer page counts every project registered with the Dubai Land Department under the companies below, Dubai only, read on 14 October 2026. A project counts as delivered when the registry marks it as finished.
- Emaar: Emaar Properties (P.J.S.C); Emaar Development P.J.S.C.; Emaar Bawadi (L L C); Emaar Dubai South Dwc Llc; Dwtc Emaar L.L.C
- Damac: Damac Properties Co (L.L.C) and the 18 other companies whose registered name starts with Damac
- Azizi: Azizi Developments L.L.C; Azizi Investments (L.L.C)
- Binghatti: Binghatti Developers Fze
- Sobha: Sobha L.L.C; Sobha Investments Limited; Sobha Ventures Limited; Sobha Properties Limited
- Danube: Danube Properties Development L.L.C
- Ellington: Ellington Properties Development L.L.C and its 7 project companies (Ellington Sol, Ellington Sb, Ellington Karma, Ellington Pcfc, Ellington Dutco, Dutco Ellington Canal Front, Northacre Ellington)
- Samana: the 8 companies whose registered name starts with Samana
- Iman: Iman Developers L.L.C
- Imtiaz: the 12 companies whose registered name starts with Imtiaz
- Object 1: Object One Real Estate Development L.L.C
- Nakheel: The Palm - Jebel Ali Co.; The Palm - Jumeirah Co.; Jumeirah Village L.L.C; Jumeirah Islands Co.; Jumeirah Park (L.L.C); Jumeirah Heights (L.L.C); Jumeirah Golf Estates L.L.C; Nakheel And Excelsior Real Estate L.L.C
- Meraas: Citywalk Residential 1; Meraas Bay And Residence; La Mer North Residential; La Mer North Property Co.; La Mer Central Property Co.; Pdlm Residential (Port de La Mer); Blue Waters Residential; Jumeirah Hills Development (Madinat Jumeirah Living); Dhre 2 Bts (Dubai Holding Real Estate projects sold by Meraas)
- Omniyat: Omniyat Properties Development Corporation and its project companies (Six, Nine, Ten, Seventeen); Royal Creek Real Estate Development; Crescent 16 and Crescent 17 Real Estate Development
- Select Group: Select Global Development L.L.C; Torch Select Limited
- Arada: Arada Developments L.L.C S.O.C
- Beyond: the 10 projects registered under the name By Beyond
- Aldar: Aurora Spv 1, Aurora Spv 2 and Aurora Spv 3 L.L.C, joint ventures with Dubai Holding Real Estate
Prices and payment plans
Starting prices, payment plans and handover quarters are read from the developer's own published page where it exists, and from a property portal listing where the developer publishes no price. Each project page names which of the two it is. Prices change without notice, so they must be confirmed before any money is committed.
What we do not have
One gap, stated plainly. We cannot show the gap against the handover date first announced, because the registry keeps only the current registered date. We show instead how many active projects of each developer are past that registered date. Property Radar lists mainly Dubai projects, because only Dubai publishes these official records. The few projects in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah are shown without registry figures.
Corrections
If a figure on this site is wrong, tell us and we will correct it and date the correction. Use the contact form.