Emaar vs Nakheel

Emaar is the cheaper book per sqft, at AED 2,068 against AED 2,138 for Nakheel, so Nakheel is 3% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 3.19M for a median 1,554 sqft home from Emaar, 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.

Emaar sells mostly 2 BR units, 501 priced records at a median AED 2,241 per sqft and AED 2.84M 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 660K from Emaar and AED 600K from Nakheel.

Across 272 published plans from Emaar, the median asks 80% before handover, with 11% 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. 89% of Emaar plans want 60% or more before keys, against 91% of Nakheel plans. At the light end, 10% of Emaar plans and 9% of Nakheel plans ask 50% or less.

Emaar builds in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, across 28 communities, most of it in The Valley, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Hills Estate. Nakheel builds in Dubai, across 13 communities, concentrated in Palm Jebel Ali, Dubai Islands, Al Furjan.

Emaar peaks in 2029, when 82 of its 240 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.

54% of the Emaar 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.