Aldar vs Ellington

Aldar is the cheaper book per sqft, at AED 1,958 against AED 2,427 for Ellington, so Ellington is 24% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 5.60M for a median 2,210 sqft home from Aldar, against AED 2.98M for a median 1,254 sqft home from Ellington. Part of that gap is product, not premium: the two are not selling the same mix of unit.

Aldar sells mostly 2 BR units, 243 priced records at a median AED 3,420 per sqft and AED 6.58M a unit. Ellington leans to 2 BR units, 146 records at AED 2,439 per sqft and AED 3.03M a unit.

Entry pricing: the lowest published starting price is AED 340K from Aldar and AED 429K from Ellington.

Across 118 published plans from Aldar, the median asks 60% before handover, with 1% carrying instalments that run past the keys. Ellington publishes 74 plans, a median of 70% before handover and 1% with a post-handover tail.

The heavy end matters more than the median when the plan is the reason to buy. 72% of Aldar plans want 60% or more before keys, against 80% of Ellington plans. At the light end, 25% of Aldar plans and 20% of Ellington plans ask 50% or less.

Aldar builds in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, across 13 communities, most of it in Dubailand, Saadiyat Island, Yas Island. Ellington builds in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, across 26 communities, concentrated in Mohammed Bin Rashid City, Dubai Islands, Jumeirah Lake Towers.

Aldar peaks in 2029, when 45 of its 132 tracked projects are scheduled to hand over. Ellington peaks in 2026 with 22 of 67. Published handover dates move, so read them as developer intent rather than a delivered date.

30% of the Aldar projects tracked are listed as sold out or out of stock, against 59% for Ellington. That is the share of each book no longer taking new bookings at listed prices, which reads as demand on the way in and as scarcity on the way out.