Abu Dhabi vs Ras Al Khaimah
At the median, Ras Al Khaimah asks AED 2,721 per sqft against AED 1,981 in Abu Dhabi, 37% dearer per sqft. Half of the Ras Al Khaimah inventory we hold a price for sits between AED 2,385 and AED 3,267 per sqft, against AED 1,600 to AED 2,969 in Abu Dhabi.
The ticket runs the other way. Abu Dhabi is the cheaper square foot and the more expensive home: a median AED 4.58M against AED 2.73M, because the median unit there is 2,210 sqft against 1,016 sqft. Comparing headline prices between the two without normalising for floor area gets the direction of the gap backwards.
Abu Dhabi carries the larger book: 269 tracked off-plan projects and 1,757 priced unit records, against 131 projects and 2,429 for Ras Al Khaimah.
Payment terms sit level: the median plan on both sides asks 50% before keys, from 398 published plans in Abu Dhabi and 158 in Ras Al Khaimah.
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.
- Ras Al Khaimah2,721 2,429
- Abu Dhabi1,981 1,757
Dot is the median asking price per sqft, bar is the middle half of the priced inventory. Bases are 1,757 priced units in Abu Dhabi and 2,429 in Ras Al Khaimah.
Side by side
| Metric | Abu Dhabi | Ras Al Khaimah |
|---|---|---|
| Off-plan projects tracked | 269 | 131 |
| Priced units | 1,757 | 2,429 |
| Median AED per sqft | 1,981 | 2,721 |
| AED per sqft, p25 to p75 | 1,600 to 2,969 | 2,385 to 3,267 |
| Median unit size, sqft | 2,210 | 1,016 |
| Median asking price | AED 4.58M | AED 2.73M |
| Lowest starting price | AED 340K | AED 556K |
| Median booking deposit | 10% | 10% |
| Median paid before handover | 50% | 50% |
| Plans with a post-handover tail | 6% | 18% |
| Peak handover year | 2029 (73 projects) | 2028 (64 projects) |
| Communities tracked | 28 | 12 |
| Developers building | 63 | 48 |
| Projects sold out or gone | 35% | 23% |
Every figure is computed by OffplanIndex over developer-published unit inventories and payment plans, and every row uses that emirate's own records. Two emirates with very different book sizes are still compared at the median, so a thin book moves on less evidence than a thick one. Not investment advice.
Price
Abu Dhabi is the cheaper square foot, AED 1,981 against AED 2,721 in Ras Al Khaimah, so Ras Al Khaimah is 37% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 4.58M for a median 2,210 sqft home in Abu Dhabi, against AED 2.73M for a median 1,016 sqft home in Ras Al Khaimah. Part of that gap is product rather than location: the two are not selling the same mix of unit.
Abu Dhabi publishes mostly 2 BR units, 539 priced records at a median AED 2,181 per sqft and AED 3.67M a unit. Ras Al Khaimah leans to 1 BR units, 1,019 records at AED 2,677 per sqft and AED 2.33M a unit.
Entry pricing: the lowest published starting price anywhere in Abu Dhabi is AED 340K, against AED 556K in Ras Al Khaimah. That is a single listing on each side, so read it as what exists rather than as a level.
Terms
Across 398 published plans in Abu Dhabi, the median asks 10% on booking and 50% before handover, with 6% carrying instalments that run past the keys. Ras Al Khaimah publishes 158 plans: 10% on booking, 50% before handover and 18% with a post-handover tail.
The heavy end matters more than the median when the plan is the reason to buy. 45% of Abu Dhabi plans want 60% or more before keys, against 43% in Ras Al Khaimah. At the light end, 51% of Abu Dhabi plans and 56% of Ras Al Khaimah plans ask 50% or less.
Concentration
Al Reem Island carries 67 of Abu Dhabi's 269 tracked projects, 25% of the emirate, across 28 tracked communities. Al Marjan Island carries 95 of Ras Al Khaimah's 131, 73%, across 12 communities. A concentrated emirate median is a project decision rather than a market signal: if the anchor scheme reprices, the emirate reprices with it.
On the supply side, Aldar is the largest builder in Abu Dhabi with 89 projects of 63 developers active, and RAK leads Ras Al Khaimah with 37 of 48.
Largest in Abu Dhabi: Al Reem Island, Yas Island, Saadiyat Island, Masdar City, Hudayriyat Island. Largest in Ras Al Khaimah: Al Marjan Island, Mina Al Arab, Al Hamra Village, RAK Central, Al Jazeera Al Hamra.
When and what is left
Abu Dhabi peaks in 2029, when 73 of its 269 tracked projects are scheduled to hand over. Ras Al Khaimah peaks in 2028 with 64 of 131. Published handover dates move, so read them as developer intent rather than as a delivered date.
35% of the Abu Dhabi projects tracked are listed as sold out or out of stock, against 23% in Ras Al Khaimah. A young book looks available because it launched recently, and an old one looks scarce because what did not sell has quietly stopped being listed, so this is a supply reading rather than a demand one.
Go deeper
More comparisons
The full report: every community, every developer, ranked.
Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah 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.