Ellington vs Emaar

Emaar is the cheaper book per sqft, at AED 2,068 against AED 2,427 for Ellington, so Ellington is 17% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 3.19M for a median 1,554 sqft home from Emaar, 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.

Ellington sells mostly 2 BR units, 146 priced records at a median AED 2,439 per sqft and AED 3.03M 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 429K from Ellington and AED 660K from Emaar.

Across 74 published plans from Ellington, the median asks 70% before handover, with 1% 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. 80% of Ellington plans want 60% or more before keys, against 89% of Emaar plans. At the light end, 20% of Ellington plans and 10% of Emaar plans ask 50% or less.

Ellington builds in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, across 26 communities, most of it in Mohammed Bin Rashid City, Dubai Islands, Jumeirah Lake Towers. Emaar builds in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, across 28 communities, concentrated in The Valley, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Hills Estate.

Ellington peaks in 2026, when 22 of its 67 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.

59% of the Ellington 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.