Dubai Islands vs Dubai South
At the median, Dubai Islands asks AED 2,492 per sqft against AED 1,847 in Dubai South, 35% dearer per sqft. Half of Dubai Islands inventory sits between AED 2,139 and AED 2,962 per sqft, against AED 1,528 to AED 2,155 in Dubai South.
Dubai Islands carries the larger pipeline: 183 tracked off-plan projects and 2,309 priced units, against 136 projects and 4,518 priced units in Dubai South.
Payment plans sit level: the median plan on both sides asks 50% before keys, from 196 published plans in Dubai Islands and 176 in Dubai South.
Price per sqft, and the band around it
Dot is the median AED per sqft, bar is p25 to p75. Figures after each name are the median AED per sqft and the priced units.
- Dubai Islands2,492 2,309
- Dubai South1,847 4,518
Dot is the median asking price per sqft, bar is the middle half of the priced inventory. Bases are 2,309 priced units in Dubai Islands and 4,518 in Dubai South.
Side by side
| Metric | Dubai Islands | Dubai South |
|---|---|---|
| Off-plan projects tracked | 183 | 136 |
| Priced units | 2,309 | 4,518 |
| Median AED per sqft | 2,492 | 1,847 |
| AED per sqft, p25 to p75 | 2,139 to 2,962 | 1,528 to 2,155 |
| Median asking price | AED 3.41M | AED 1.34M |
| Lowest starting price | AED 1.10M | AED 426K |
| Median paid before handover | 50% | 50% |
| Plans with a post-handover tail | 12% | 34% |
| Peak handover year | 2027 (79 projects) | 2028 (49 projects) |
| Active developers | 86 | 66 |
Every figure is computed by OffplanIndex over developer-published unit inventories and payment plans. Rows a community cannot answer are left out rather than filled in. Not investment advice.
Price
Dubai South is the cheaper side per sqft, at AED 1,847 against AED 2,492 in Dubai Islands, so Dubai Islands is 35% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 1.34M for a median 891 sqft home in Dubai South, against AED 3.41M for a median 1,391 sqft home in Dubai Islands.
Inventory is weighted differently. Dubai Islands is dominated by 2 BR units, 1,045 priced records at a median AED 2,490 per sqft and AED 3.37M a unit. Dubai South leans to 2 BR units, 1,663 records at AED 1,998 per sqft and AED 2.41M a unit.
Entry pricing: the lowest published starting price is AED 1.10M in Dubai Islands and AED 426K in Dubai South.
Supply and delivery
Dubai Islands peaks in 2027, when 79 of its 183 tracked projects are scheduled to hand over. Dubai South peaks in 2028 with 49 of 136. Published handover dates move, so read them as developer intent rather than a delivered date.
Of the projects tracked, 25% in Dubai Islands and 35% in Dubai South are listed as sold out or out of stock, which is the share of the pipeline no longer taking new bookings at listed prices.
86 developers are active in Dubai Islands, led by Nakheel, Imtiaz, Ellington. Dubai South has 66, led by Emaar, Dubai South Properties, Azizi.
Go deeper
More comparisons
The full report: every community, every developer, ranked.
Dubai Islands and Dubai South in context: price per sqft by community and developer, payment plan structures ranked by cash due before handover, the 2026 to 2029 delivery pipeline, and the CSV behind every table. PDF plus data, delivered instantly.
Source: OffplanIndex derived analytics, built 2026-09-02 from developer-published project facts and unit inventories aggregated from public portals (latest observation 2026-07-30). All statistics are computed by OffplanIndex; no third-party database is reproduced. See the methodology and data policy. Not investment advice.