Alef vs Nakheel

Alef is the cheaper book per sqft, at AED 1,269 against AED 2,138 for Nakheel, so Nakheel is 68% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 1.49M for a median 1,169 sqft home from Alef, against AED 5.60M for a median 2,921 sqft home from Nakheel. Part of that gap is product, not premium: the two are not selling the same mix of unit.

Alef sells mostly 1 BR units, 149 priced records at a median AED 1,368 per sqft and AED 729K a unit. Nakheel leans to 2 BR units, 109 records at AED 2,020 per sqft and AED 2.80M a unit.

Entry pricing: the lowest published starting price is AED 515K from Alef and AED 600K from Nakheel.

Across 43 published plans from Alef, the median asks 40% before handover, with 44% carrying instalments that run past the keys. Nakheel publishes 81 plans, a median of 80% before handover and 0% with a post-handover tail.

The heavy end matters more than the median when the plan is the reason to buy. 30% of Alef plans want 60% or more before keys, against 91% of Nakheel plans. At the light end, 70% of Alef plans and 9% of Nakheel plans ask 50% or less.

Alef builds in Sharjah, across 4 communities, most of it in Muwaileh, Hayyan, Al Mamzar - Sharjah. Nakheel builds in Dubai, across 13 communities, concentrated in Palm Jebel Ali, Dubai Islands, Al Furjan.

Alef peaks in 2029, when 13 of its 40 tracked projects are scheduled to hand over. Nakheel peaks in 2028 with 30 of 82. Published handover dates move, so read them as developer intent rather than a delivered date.

0% of the Alef projects tracked are listed as sold out or out of stock, against 46% for Nakheel. 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.