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Every median on this page carries its window and sample size. That is not pedantry: most published commentary on this community compares medians from different windows as though they measured the same thing.
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| 3,738 | AED 14-22 | 11.3% |
|---|---|---|
| registered transfers in Dubai Marina over twelve months to August 2026 | service charge per sq ft, consuming a reported 20-30% of gross rent | premium of new lettings over renewals, so a tenanted unit yields less in year one |
The problem
There are two prices for every apartment here. The one on the listing and the one the land department records at transfer.
In a mature secondary market those separate, and in Dubai Marina they have separated a long way. Sellers price off what the unit fetched in a different market. Buyers who price off the registry are transacting well below listing.
The complication is that the published figures for how far apart they are do not hold up. So this page gives you the underlying numbers, their windows, and a method, rather than a headline percentage.
What the registry shows
| Measure | Figure | Window | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median registered sale price | AED 2.70m, about AED 2,366 per sq ft | Trailing 12 months to August 2026 | 3,738 registered transfers |
| Median registered sale price | AED 1.66m, about AED 1,695 per sq ft | Most recent 90 days | 524 completed deals |
| Median asking price | AED 2.38m | Active portal listings | Listings, not transactions |
Registry figures from DLD-backed analysis. Asking figure from listing portals.
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The five requests that turn a listing into a valuation.
Free guide, 31 pages, with the data disagreements published rather than resolved. No call required.
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Why the published gap does not reconcile
⚠️ The widely quoted "22.6% asking premium" for Dubai Marina does not work.
AED 2.38m against AED 1.66m is 43.4%. On a per square foot basis, AED 2,366 against AED 1,695 is 39.6%. Neither gives 22.6%.
There is a second problem. In at least one widely reproduced table, AED 2,366 per sq ft sits in the "portal asking" column. That figure is the registry-backed twelve-month transacted median. A table comparing a 90-day transacted figure against a twelve-month transacted figure is not measuring an asking premium at all.
The gap is real. Its size is not established by anything currently published, and we are not going to invent one.
And a related caution. The 90-day median sits 38% below the twelve-month median. Dubai recorded a record AED 252bn of Q1 transactions and the broad index has cooled under 3% from its March peak. Nothing supports a 38% fall in a quarter. The likely explanation is mix: a quarter where more small units clear produces a lower median with nothing repricing.
The rental side
Rents behave better than prices here, and better-behaved data supports better decisions.
Median registered annual rent sits at about AED 118,000, roughly AED 101 per sq ft, up about 2.6% year on year. An alternative registry source puts the Ejari median at AED 122,000. Reported occupancy is 92% across a sample of 128 towers.
The number that matters most: new lettings transact at a median of about AED 128,000 against renewals at about AED 115,000, an 11.3% premium.
Sitting tenants here are under-renting the market by roughly a tenth. That is a reason landlords keep good tenants, and a reason a buyer of a tenanted unit should underwrite on the in-place rent rather than the market rent.
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Before you bid, not after.
Send us the building and the unit size. We pull the registered transfers for that specific stack, the service charge with its history, the in-place rent against the new-lease median, and the association's levy position.
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Why the yields disagree
The same community, in the same month, is published at 7.1%, at 6.2% to 7.5%, at 5.5% to 7.2%, and at 4.5% to 5.9%.
They are not measuring the same thing. The spread comes almost entirely from the denominator: a yield calculated against a 90-day median flatters, one calculated against a twelve-month median does not, and the registry-backed figure is the lowest of the four.
The structural point survives the disagreement and is the useful one. Your entry price decides your yield here more than your rent does. The achievable rent for a given unit type sits in a fairly tight band. The price you can buy at does not.
All of those figures are gross. Service charges of AED 14 to AED 22 per sq ft are reported to consume 20% to 30% of gross rent. On a 900 sq ft one-bedroom, the difference between the bottom and top of that range is about AED 7,200 a year.
What separates buildings
There is a well-known informal ranking of Marina towers in circulation. We do not repeat it, in either direction, because it originates in anonymous discussion and names identifiable buildings.
Four factors do the same analytical work and are documented:
Age and the replacement cycle. The community spans roughly two decades of construction. Mid-2000s towers are reaching major system replacement, with one-off chiller or facade levies cited around AED 30,000 per unit. Whether a building has raised one, or has one coming, is a documentary question.
Service charge and its history. Set building by building. Ask for three years, not this year.
Ownership mix. Around 60% to 65% of Marina units are investor-held. High investor ratios reprice faster in a soft quarter, which helps a buyer and hurts a seller.
Tram proximity. Reported to carry a 10% to 15% rental premium, and one of the few location premiums in Dubai you can verify by walking.
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We do this before every bid we put in for a client.
Registry comparables at building and unit-size level, service charge history, in-place rent, levy position. It takes an afternoon and it is the difference between an offer and a guess.
[Pull registry comparables]
FAQ
What do Dubai Marina apartments actually sell for?
Median registered price was AED 2.70m across the twelve months to August 2026 and AED 1.66m across the most recent 90 days. The gap between those windows most likely reflects which unit sizes traded rather than a fall of that size in value.
How much below asking do units sell for here?
Meaningfully below, but no published community-wide figure reconciles with its own inputs. Compare registered transfers for the specific building and unit size against that unit's asking price instead.
What is the rental yield in Dubai Marina?
Published gross figures range from 4.5% to 7.5% depending on the price denominator used. All are gross, before service charges of AED 14 to AED 22 per sq ft.
What are Dubai Marina service charges?
Reported at AED 14 to AED 22 per sq ft annually for unbranded stock, set building by building, consuming a reported 20% to 30% of gross rent.
Which towers should I avoid?
We do not rank buildings. The factors that separate them here are age, service charge level and history, ownership mix and tram proximity, all documented per building and all checkable before you bid.
Can you check a specific building before I offer?
Yes. That is the comparable pull. Send the building and unit size and we return the registered transfers, the service charge history, the in-place rent and the association position.
Final CTA block
Not ready to talk. Take the 31 page guide, including the five requests as a letter and the red flag card.
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About to bid. Send the building and unit size. We price it off the registry.
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Conversion notes
- The "does not reconcile" block is the differentiator on this page and probably the most shareable thing on the site. Give it its own anchor. Being the page that shows the arithmetic is a positioning move as much as a content one.
- Expect CTA #2 and #3 to beat the download here. The trigger is an imminent bid, not curiosity.
- Do not add a community-wide discount percentage to the hero, however much better it would convert. The entire credibility of the page is that it refuses to.
- Name and email only on the download.
- One exit-intent modal offering the red flag card alone.
- The trust bar deliberately leads with a sample size rather than a price. It sets the register for the whole page.