Dubai vs Umm Al Quwain
At the median, Umm Al Quwain asks AED 2,599 per sqft against AED 2,021 in Dubai, 29% dearer per sqft. Half of the Umm Al Quwain inventory we hold a price for sits between AED 2,079 and AED 2,774 per sqft, against AED 1,608 to AED 2,649 in Dubai.
Dubai carries the larger book: 2,337 tracked off-plan projects and 42,490 priced unit records, against 30 projects and 2,229 for Umm Al Quwain.
Payment terms sit level: the median plan on both sides asks 60% before keys, from 3,315 published plans in Dubai and 32 in Umm Al Quwain.
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.
- Umm Al Quwain2,599 2,229
- Dubai2,021 42,490
Dot is the median asking price per sqft, bar is the middle half of the priced inventory. Bases are 42,490 priced units in Dubai and 2,229 in Umm Al Quwain.
Side by side
| Metric | Dubai | Umm Al Quwain |
|---|---|---|
| Off-plan projects tracked | 2,337 | 30 |
| Priced units | 42,490 | 2,229 |
| Median AED per sqft | 2,021 | 2,599 |
| AED per sqft, p25 to p75 | 1,608 to 2,649 | 2,079 to 2,774 |
| Median unit size, sqft | 916 | 824 |
| Median asking price | AED 1.91M | AED 2.05M |
| Lowest starting price | AED 310K | AED 690K |
| Median booking deposit | 20% | 20% |
| Median paid before handover | 60% | 60% |
| Plans with a post-handover tail | 17% | 6% |
| Peak handover year | 2027 (750 projects) | 2028 (12 projects) |
| Communities tracked | 135 | 4 |
| Developers building | 582 | 3 |
| Projects sold out or gone | 42% | 3% |
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
Dubai is the cheaper square foot, AED 2,021 against AED 2,599 in Umm Al Quwain, so Umm Al Quwain is 29% dearer per sqft. On the typical unit that reads as AED 1.91M for a median 916 sqft home in Dubai, against AED 2.05M for a median 824 sqft home in Umm Al Quwain. Part of that gap is product rather than location: the two are not selling the same mix of unit.
Dubai publishes mostly 1 BR units, 15,866 priced records at a median AED 1,916 per sqft and AED 1.50M a unit. Umm Al Quwain leans to 2 BR units, 1,462 records at AED 2,650 per sqft and AED 2.14M a unit.
Entry pricing: the lowest published starting price anywhere in Dubai is AED 310K, against AED 690K in Umm Al Quwain. That is a single listing on each side, so read it as what exists rather than as a level.
Terms
Across 3,315 published plans in Dubai, the median asks 20% on booking and 60% before handover, with 17% carrying instalments that run past the keys. Umm Al Quwain publishes 32 plans: 20% on booking, 60% before handover and 6% with a post-handover tail.
The heavy end matters more than the median when the plan is the reason to buy. 57% of Dubai plans want 60% or more before keys, against 94% in Umm Al Quwain. At the light end, 41% of Dubai plans and 6% of Umm Al Quwain plans ask 50% or less.
Concentration
Jumeirah Village Circle carries 295 of Dubai's 2,337 tracked projects, 13% of the emirate, across 135 tracked communities. Umm Al Quwain Marina carries 22 of Umm Al Quwain's 30, 73%, across 4 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, Emaar is the largest builder in Dubai with 331 projects of 582 developers active, and Sobha Realty leads Umm Al Quwain with 26 of 3.
Largest in Dubai: Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Islands, Dubai South, Business Bay, Dubailand. Largest in Umm Al Quwain: Umm Al Quwain Marina, Sobha Siniya Island, Al Raudah, Sobha Aquamont.
When and what is left
Dubai peaks in 2027, when 750 of its 2,337 tracked projects are scheduled to hand over. Umm Al Quwain peaks in 2028 with 12 of 30. Published handover dates move, so read them as developer intent rather than as a delivered date.
42% of the Dubai projects tracked are listed as sold out or out of stock, against 3% in Umm Al Quwain. 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.
Dubai and Umm Al Quwain 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.