Emaar vs Sobha Realty

Emaar is the cheaper book per sqft, at AED 2,068 against AED 2,775 for Sobha Realty, so Sobha Realty is 34% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 3.19M for a median 1,554 sqft home from Emaar, against AED 2.19M for a median 802 sqft home from Sobha Realty. 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. Sobha Realty leans to 1 BR units, 2,732 records at AED 2,895 per sqft and AED 2.05M a unit.

Entry pricing: the lowest published starting price is AED 660K from Emaar and AED 800K from Sobha Realty.

Across 272 published plans from Emaar, the median asks 80% before handover, with 11% carrying instalments that run past the keys. Sobha Realty publishes 99 plans, a median of 60% before handover and 2% 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 87% of Sobha Realty plans. At the light end, 10% of Emaar plans and 13% of Sobha Realty 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. Sobha Realty builds in Dubai, Umm Al Quwain, Abu Dhabi, across 25 communities, concentrated in Umm Al Quwain Marina, Bukadra, Mohammed Bin Rashid City.

Emaar peaks in 2029, when 82 of its 240 tracked projects are scheduled to hand over. Sobha Realty peaks in 2029 with 32 of 97. 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 25% for Sobha Realty. 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.