Arada vs Emaar

Arada is the cheaper book per sqft, at AED 1,319 against AED 2,068 for Emaar, so Emaar is 57% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 3.12M for a median 2,080 sqft home from Arada, against AED 3.19M for a median 1,554 sqft home from Emaar. Part of that gap is product, not premium: the two are not selling the same mix of unit.

Arada sells mostly 2 BR units, 320 priced records at a median AED 1,321 per sqft and AED 1.89M a unit. Emaar leans to 2 BR units, 501 records at AED 2,241 per sqft and AED 2.84M a unit.

Entry pricing: the lowest published starting price is AED 299K from Arada and AED 660K from Emaar.

Across 77 published plans from Arada, the median asks 40% before handover, with 0% carrying instalments that run past the keys. Emaar publishes 272 plans, a median of 80% before handover and 11% with a post-handover tail.

The heavy end matters more than the median when the plan is the reason to buy. 5% of Arada plans want 60% or more before keys, against 89% of Emaar plans. At the light end, 94% of Arada plans and 10% of Emaar plans ask 50% or less.

Arada builds in Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman, across 17 communities, most of it in Aljada, Tilal City, Al Rowdat Suburb. Emaar builds in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, across 28 communities, concentrated in The Valley, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Hills Estate.

Arada peaks in 2027, when 19 of its 47 tracked projects are scheduled to hand over. Emaar peaks in 2029 with 82 of 240. Published handover dates move, so read them as developer intent rather than a delivered date.

44% of the Arada projects tracked are listed as sold out or out of stock, against 54% for Emaar. 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.