Affordable areas · Dubai
Cheapest areas in Dubai
Where a home in Dubai costs least — to rent, from McCone Properties’ count of every tenancy registered through Ejari, and to buy, from our analysis of every completed home resold at the Land Department. Two ladders, cheapest first, every community the registers can price, and no top-five opinions: the figure beside each name is what people actually paid.
Read this first
Cheap to rent and cheap to buy are two lists
Most lists of Dubai's affordable areas mix the two and print neither figure. They are different questions, the answers overlap only in part, and the page keeps them apart.
The rent ladder is ranked by what a one-bedroom lets for, with the studio, two- and three-bedroom beside it, so a family can read its own column. The price ladder is ranked by the median resale price per square foot, the only fair way to set a tower of studios against a street of villas. Price per square foot is not price, though: a 750-square-foot flat at International City's median comes to about AED 500,000, and a large townhouse in a cheap community still costs more than a small flat in a dear one.
Every figure is a registered contract or transfer, not an advert. Prices are completed homes only — off-plan sales are priced to a developer’s launch schedule and would measure that instead. Rents count new leases and renewals together, and a renewal’s increase is capped by the RERA rental index, so a new lease signed today usually costs somewhat more than the median beside it. What each community’s rent did on the year, with the two kept apart, is on Dubai rent prices. The other end of both ladders is the most expensive areas in Dubai, read from the same registers.
Cheap on both counts — among the ten cheapest to rent a one-bedroom and the ten cheapest to buy: International City and Al Warsan.
To rent
The cheapest places to rent, by the one-bedroom
Median annual rent by layout, across every Ejari contract registered in the twelve months to 26 Oct 2026. Each name opens its area guide.
A one-bedroom in International City let for a median AED 40,600 a year — the lowest in Dubai. Next came Dubai Waterfront (AED 41,000), Al Qusais (AED 41,500), Al Twar (AED 42,000) and Hor Al Anz (AED 42,000). At the other end of the ladder, Palm Jumeirah and Emirates Golf Club: AED 148,500.
| Community | Studio | 1 B/R | 2 B/R | 3 B/R | Contracts, 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International City | 30,000 | 40,600 | 56,000 | 110,000 | 24,146 |
| Dubai Waterfront | 32,025 | 41,000 | 64,000 | 87,476 | 559 |
| Al Qusais | 30,500 | 41,500 | 53,000 | 65,000 | 19,423 |
| Al Twar | 32,000 | 42,000 | 61,975 | 87,000 | 2,954 |
| Hor Al Anz | 33,000 | 42,000 | 59,000 | 80,000 | 8,150 |
| Al Nahda | 34,992 | 45,000 | 58,008 | 82,000 | 23,208 |
| Al Warqa | 34,700 | 46,000 | 62,000 | 95,000 | 9,298 |
| Damac Hills 2 | 37,000 | 47,000 | 83,649 | 90,000 | 5,362 |
| Al Warsan | 38,000 | 50,000 | 62,000 | 88,000 | 9,385 |
| Dubai Industrial City | 38,000 | 50,000 | 68,000 | 80,000 | 1,407 |
| Dubai Land Residence Complex, Villanova, Arabian Ranches 3 and Athlon by AldarRead from the DLD area Wadi Al Safa 5 | 38,000 | 51,000 | 67,000 | 150,000 | 11,014 |
| Liwan, Falcon City of Wonders and Wadi Al Safa 2Read from the DLD area Wadi Al Safa 2 | 40,000 | 51,000 | 74,000 | 97,500 | 4,723 |
| Dubai LandRead from the DLD areas Al Yelayiss 1, Wadi Al Safa 4, Wadi Al Safa 5 and Wadi Al Safa 7 | 38,000 | 52,500 | 73,000 | 155,000 | 15,718 |
| Mirdif | 44,000 | 52,997 | 71,000 | 110,000 | 10,059 |
| Damac Lagoons and RemraamRead from the DLD area Al Hebiah Fifth | 40,000 | 54,243 | 77,000 | 130,000 | 2,957 |
| Dubai Investment Park (DIP) | 36,300 | 55,000 | 76,800 | 157,500 | 5,953 |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 40,600 | 55,000 | 75,822 | 121,638 | 16,115 |
| Dubai Sports City and Tilal Al GhafRead from the DLD area Al Hebiah Fourth | 40,000 | 56,000 | 80,000 | 190,000 | 10,056 |
| Dubai Production City (IMPZ) and Jumeirah Golf EstatesRead from the DLD area Me'Aisem First | 38,000 | 57,000 | 84,000 | 205,000 | 7,434 |
| Al Karama | 44,000 | 57,170 | 70,400 | 92,400 | 11,387 |
| Dubai South (Dubai World Central) and Expo CityRead from the DLD area Madinat Al Mataar | 40,000 | 57,500 | 86,000 | 110,000 | 8,425 |
| Downtown Jebel AliRead from the DLD area Jabal Ali Industrial Second | 45,000 | 58,000 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 963 |
| Al Quoz | 42,000 | 59,000 | 58,799 | 71,819 | 2,222 |
| Majan, Living Legends and Al BarariRead from the DLD area Wadi Al Safa 3 | 40,000 | 60,000 | 83,000 | 150,000 | 4,066 |
| Town Square | 42,000 | 60,000 | 85,000 | 144,000 | 6,011 |
| Jebel AliRead from the DLD areas Jabal Ali First and Jabal Ali Industrial Second | 42,999 | 62,000 | 84,000 | 152,000 | 26,561 |
| Al Furjan, Discovery Gardens and Wasl GateRead from the DLD area Jabal Ali First | 42,999 | 62,000 | 84,000 | 152,250 | 25,598 |
| Academic City | 19,000 | 62,375 | 80,575 | — | 191 |
| Maritime City and Mina RashidRead from the DLD area Madinat Dubai Almelaheyah | 64,913 | 64,050 | 82,688 | 113,000 | 1,729 |
| Al Garhoud | — | 64,999 | 80,999 | 120,000 | 1,848 |
| Al BarshaRead from the DLD areas Al Barsha First and Al Barshaa South Second | 45,000 | 65,000 | 88,000 | 131,000 | 13,997 |
| Arjan | 45,000 | 65,000 | 90,000 | 150,000 | 13,577 |
| Dubai Studio CityRead from the DLD area Al Hebiah Second | 46,000 | 65,000 | 90,000 | 110,000 | 2,085 |
| Arabian RanchesRead from the DLD areas Al Hebiah Second and Wadi Al Safa 6 | 46,000 | 65,000 | 118,000 | 232,560 | 3,239 |
| Rukan, Arabian Ranches 2, Serena and Reportage VillageRead from the DLD area Wadi Al Safa 7 | 44,000 | 66,000 | 103,975 | 160,000 | 3,178 |
| Barsha Heights (Tecom) | 60,000 | 68,000 | 86,823 | 120,543 | 5,466 |
| Dubai Science ParkRead from the DLD area Al Barshaa South Second | 46,000 | 68,315 | 111,500 | 220,784 | 1,545 |
| Oud Metha | 41,675 | 70,000 | 88,200 | 120,000 | 3,749 |
| Damac HillsRead from the DLD area Al Hebiah Third | 44,000 | 70,000 | 119,834 | 190,000 | 4,145 |
| MudonRead from the DLD areas Al Hebiah Sixth and Al Hebiah Third | 44,000 | 70,000 | 120,000 | 185,000 | 5,405 |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 47,250 | 70,000 | 95,000 | 150,000 | 29,307 |
| Al Jaddaf and Culture VillageRead from the DLD area Al Jadaf | 52,000 | 70,000 | 87,417 | 135,000 | 8,669 |
| Jumeirah Village Triangle | 45,000 | 70,103 | 86,000 | 180,000 | 3,065 |
| Al Satwa | 53,500 | 71,500 | 94,000 | 195,000 | 5,495 |
| Motor City | 50,000 | 72,000 | 115,000 | 180,000 | 1,865 |
| Nad Al ShebaRead from the DLD area Nad Al Shiba First | 52,000 | 78,000 | 121,739 | 235,000 | 2,377 |
| Al Muhaisnah | — | 79,000 | 117,342 | 170,000 | 364 |
| Mohammed Bin Rashid CityRead from the DLD areas Al Merkadh, Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid and Wadi Al Safa 3 | 48,000 | 80,000 | 130,000 | 220,000 | 23,251 |
| MeydanRead from the DLD areas Al Merkadh and Nad Al Shiba First | 49,000 | 80,000 | 130,000 | 181,199 | 14,189 |
| Jumeirah Lake Towers, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah ParkRead from the DLD area Al Thanyah Fifth | 58,000 | 80,000 | 120,000 | 231,000 | 9,152 |
| Business Bay | 65,000 | 85,000 | 125,000 | 172,100 | 17,786 |
| Dubai Festival City | 33,075 | 87,500 | 150,000 | 204,750 | 735 |
| Al Sufouh | 50,000 | 88,000 | 100,000 | 181,125 | 689 |
| Dubai Hills EstateRead from the DLD area Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid | 55,000 | 90,000 | 144,000 | 245,000 | 7,373 |
| Greens, The Views and The LakesRead from the DLD area Al Thanyah Third | 60,000 | 90,000 | 150,000 | 230,000 | 3,993 |
| Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai Harbour and BluewatersRead from the DLD area Marsa Dubai | 60,500 | 93,000 | 140,000 | 200,000 | 18,294 |
| Dubai Creek Harbour (The Lagoons) | — | 95,000 | 145,003 | 210,000 | 5,895 |
| Jumeirah and Pearl JumeirahRead from the DLD area Jumeirah First | 50,000 | 100,000 | 160,000 | 219,555 | 2,448 |
| Bur Dubai | — | 105,000 | 150,000 | 220,000 | 616 |
| Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet CityRead from the DLD area Al Safouh Second | — | 107,500 | 138,600 | 179,251 | 479 |
| Downtown Dubai | 71,297 | 115,000 | 175,000 | 280,000 | 9,210 |
| Dubai Design DistrictRead from the DLD area Zaabeel Second | — | 115,000 | 170,000 | 260,000 | 1,020 |
| ZabeelRead from the DLD areas Zaabeel First and Zaabeel Second | — | 117,000 | 175,000 | 260,000 | 1,136 |
| Umm Suqeim | — | 118,000 | 190,000 | 250,000 | 969 |
| City Walk, Al Safa and Al WaslRead from the DLD area Al Wasl | 56,000 | 137,000 | 200,000 | 277,200 | 2,088 |
| Palm Jumeirah and Emirates Golf ClubRead from the DLD area Palm Jumeirah | 90,000 | 148,500 | 202,062 | 290,000 | 3,874 |
| Al Rashidiya | 32,549 | — | 63,674 | 109,975 | 878 |
| Reem and Damac Islands 2Read from the DLD area Al Yelayiss 1 | — | — | 120,750 | 160,000 | 1,444 |
| The Springs | — | — | 154,038 | 235,000 | 2,354 |
| The Valley | — | — | — | 135,000 | 859 |
AED a year, the median of all Ejari contracts registered in the twelve months to 26 Oct 2026 — new leases and renewals together — for each Land Department area holding a hundred or more of them. The register files a tenancy under its area rather than its community, so communities that share an area share a row, and the area is named beneath them; a figure read across several areas includes homes in the neighbours those areas also serve. A layout’s median can rest on few contracts in a small area, and a dash means the register holds none of that layout there, not that none exist. Communities the register cannot yet tie to an area have no row.
To buy
The cheapest places to buy, by the square foot
Median resale price per square foot of completed homes registered in the twelve months to 22 Oct 2026, for every community with twenty or more resales. Each name opens its area guide, which carries the prices by layout.
International City resold at a median AED 664 a square foot — 46% of the city's AED 1,430. Next came Dubai Land Residence Complex (AED 819), Living Legends (AED 847), Liwan (AED 861) and Al Warsan (AED 882).
| Community | What it is | Resale AED/sqft, 12 months | On the year before | Resales, 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International City | Buildings | 664 | +3% | 1,334 |
| Dubai Land Residence Complex | Buildings | 819 | +1% | 584 |
| Living Legends | Buildings | 847 | +8% | 81 |
| Liwan | Buildings | 861 | +7% | 391 |
| Al Warsan | Buildings | 882 | 0% | 298 |
| Dubai Investment Park (DIP) | Buildings | 887 | +21% | 210 |
| Majan | Buildings | 904 | −6% | 888 |
| Al Quoz | Buildings | 921 | +14% | 109 |
| Remraam | Buildings | 942 | +7% | 242 |
| Dubai Sports City | Buildings | 954 | +10% | 1,121 |
| Dubai Industrial City | Buildings | 960 | −2% | 100 |
| Discovery Gardens | Buildings | 967 | +16% | 942 |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | Buildings | 969 | +15% | 826 |
| Dubai Production City (IMPZ) | Buildings | 984 | +5% | 781 |
| Motor City | Buildings | 1,004 | +8% | 713 |
| Damac Hills 2 | Buildings and Villas | 1,063 | −15% | 1,090 |
| Jebel Ali | Buildings | 1,091 | +39% | 60 |
| Dubai South (Dubai World Central) | Buildings | 1,125 | +2% | 1,081 |
| City of Arabia | Buildings | 1,131 | +67% | 33 |
| Mirdif | Buildings | 1,139 | −4% | 82 |
| Barsha Heights (Tecom) | Buildings | 1,161 | +3% | 45 |
| Reem | Villas | 1,212 | +9% | 191 |
| Al Barsha | Buildings | 1,288 | +1% | 69 |
| Serena | Villas | 1,288 | +8% | 52 |
| The Valley | Villas | 1,290 | −3% | 503 |
| Al Furjan | Buildings | 1,292 | +3% | 693 |
| Jumeirah Village Circle | Buildings | 1,300 | +3% | 4,183 |
| Jumeirah Village Triangle | Buildings | 1,319 | +15% | 445 |
| Dubai Festival City | Buildings | 1,343 | −17% | 29 |
| Town Square | Buildings | 1,355 | +8% | 946 |
| Arjan | Buildings | 1,361 | +10% | 1,281 |
| Dubai Land | Buildings and Villas | 1,370 | −6% | 452 |
| Rukan | Buildings and Villas | 1,374 | +29% | 236 |
| Al Muhaisnah | Buildings | 1,382 | +6% | 45 |
| Dubai Studio City | Buildings | 1,393 | +20% | 499 |
| Downtown Jebel Ali | Buildings | 1,408 | +15% | 108 |
| Damac Hills | Buildings and Villas | 1,421 | +7% | 808 |
| Arabian Ranches 2 | Villas | 1,423 | +9% | 76 |
| Jumeirah Lake Towers | Buildings | 1,446 | +3% | 868 |
| Dubai Science Park | Buildings | 1,449 | −8% | 114 |
| Wasl Gate | Buildings | 1,488 | +8% | 64 |
| Villanova | Villas | 1,494 | +3% | 232 |
| Arabian Ranches | Villas | 1,582 | +15% | 22 |
| Al Sufouh | Buildings | 1,610 | +7% | 55 |
| Damac Lagoons | Buildings | 1,632 | +8% | 1,078 |
| Jumeirah Golf Estates | Buildings and Villas | 1,641 | −16% | 181 |
| Jumeirah Beach Residence | Buildings | 1,648 | 0% | 451 |
| Dubai Internet City | Buildings | 1,648 | +86% | 29 |
| Mudon | Buildings and Villas | 1,654 | +20% | 399 |
| The Springs | Villas | 1,667 | +9% | 356 |
| Greens | Buildings | 1,738 | +8% | 308 |
| Al Barari | Buildings | 1,738 | −8% | 172 |
| Al Satwa | Buildings | 1,738 | +2% | 94 |
| Al Jaddaf | Buildings | 1,783 | +24% | 473 |
| Arabian Ranches 3 | Villas | 1,799 | −9% | 251 |
| Culture Village | Buildings | 1,809 | +4% | 70 |
| Wadi Al Safa 2 | Buildings and Villas | 1,846 | +5% | 32 |
| Dubai Marina | Buildings | 1,871 | +10% | 1,755 |
| Business Bay | Buildings | 1,879 | +6% | 2,328 |
| Bur Dubai | Buildings | 1,934 | −6% | 101 |
| Meydan | Buildings | 1,935 | +2% | 1,050 |
| Maritime City | Buildings | 2,015 | −3% | 33 |
| Mohammed Bin Rashid City | Buildings | 2,017 | 0% | 1,580 |
| The Views | Buildings | 2,028 | +9% | 159 |
| Nad Al Sheba | Buildings and Villas | 2,170 | 0% | 187 |
| Dubai Media City | Buildings | 2,200 | −3% | 66 |
| Mina Rashid | Buildings | 2,232 | +2% | 28 |
| The Lakes | Villas | 2,241 | +17% | 23 |
| Dubai Hills Estate | Buildings | 2,289 | +2% | 1,141 |
| Dubai Creek Harbour (The Lagoons) | Buildings | 2,324 | +3% | 1,197 |
| Tilal Al Ghaf | Villas | 2,474 | +5% | 174 |
| Downtown Dubai | Buildings | 2,512 | −1% | 1,381 |
| City Walk | Buildings | 2,705 | +4% | 261 |
| Palm Jumeirah | Buildings | 2,717 | +8% | 668 |
| Umm Suqeim | Buildings | 2,771 | −4% | 148 |
| Zabeel | Buildings | 2,795 | 0% | 147 |
| Al Safa | Buildings | 2,943 | +3% | 78 |
| Jumeirah | Buildings | 3,124 | +6% | 149 |
| Dubai Harbour | Buildings | 3,399 | −5% | 291 |
| Bluewaters | Buildings | 5,587 | +2% | 89 |
The median price per square foot of completed homes resold and registered in the twelve months to 22 Oct 2026, against the twelve months before them, for every community with twenty or more resales in the year; a quieter community is priced over a longer window on its own guide. Off-plan sales are left out. “What it is” is what the register says the community is made of — towers, villa projects, or both.
Questions people ask
Affordable areas in Dubai, answered
What is the cheapest area to live in Dubai?
By what homes actually rent for, International City: a one-bedroom there let for a median AED 40,600 a year across the Ejari contracts registered in the twelve months to 26 Oct 2026, by McCone Properties' count, and the cheapest studios were in Academic City, at AED 19,000. That is the register's figure, not an asking rent, and it is rebuilt from the register as it moves.
What are the cheapest areas to rent in Dubai?
By the median one-bedroom rent in McCone Properties' count of Ejari contracts over the twelve months to 26 Oct 2026: International City (AED 40,600); Dubai Waterfront (AED 41,000); Al Qusais (AED 41,500); Al Twar (AED 42,000); Hor Al Anz (AED 42,000). The whole ladder, studio to three bedrooms, is on this page.
What is the cheapest area to buy property in Dubai?
By what completed homes resold for over the twelve months to 22 Oct 2026, in McCone Properties' analysis of the Land Department sales register, International City: a median AED 664 a square foot, against AED 1,430 for Dubai as a whole. After it come Dubai Land Residence Complex (AED 819), Living Legends (AED 847), Liwan (AED 861) and Al Warsan (AED 882). 14 communities resold below AED 1,000 a square foot in the year.
Where are the cheapest villas in Dubai?
Of the communities the register records as villas only, the lowest resale prices per square foot over the twelve months to 22 Oct 2026, by McCone Properties' reading of the Land Department register, were Reem (AED 1,212), Serena (AED 1,288) and The Valley (AED 1,290). Compare villas with villas: a villa and a flat are not measured alike, so the rate for a flat in a tower is a different figure.
Is a low price per square foot the same as a cheap home?
No. Price per square foot compares the space you get, not the cheque you write: a four-bedroom townhouse in a cheap community costs more than a studio in a dear one. It is the fair way to rank areas against each other, and the wrong way to set a budget — for that, multiply: a 750-square-foot flat at International City's median comes to about AED 500,000. Each area guide carries the register's prices by layout.
Can foreigners buy in the cheapest areas of Dubai?
9 of the 10 cheapest communities to buy in on McCone Properties' price ladder are freehold throughout by the Land Department's own mark, and a foreign national can own freehold outright with no residency requirement. For the rest, the freehold page shows what the register reads, and the title deed settles any one home.
Why are rents in some areas listed together?
Because the Ejari register files a tenancy under its Land Department area, not its community, and some areas hold several communities — Al Furjan, Discovery Gardens and Wasl Gate are one area to the register. Those communities share one row here, with the area named, so no single name is credited with a neighbour's rents. 34 rows on this page are read that way.
Every community here has an area guide with its full register behind it. A cheap area is only cheap if the journey works: the metro map names the communities at every station, and the best areas to live weighs price against a garden, the metro and the sea, and the pet-friendly communities say where a cheap rent also comes with a yes to the dog. If the budget points at the smallest layout, studio apartments in Dubai reads both registers by layout — what a studio let and sold for in every area, and how far AED 1,000 a month actually goes — and 1 bedroom apartments in Dubai does the same for the layout this page’s rent ladder is built on, with the cheapest one-bed rent on a registered contract. Arriving from abroad and working the whole budget, not only the rent? The cost of living in Dubai sets the register’s rent beside the housing fee, DEWA, the chiller, Ejari, the agency fee and the deposit, for a single person, a couple and a family of four. Buying to let? The registered contract. One rung below the district is the tower: the cheapest buildings in Dubai ranks every tower by what a completed home in it actually sold for, with the cheapest for a studio, a one-bed and a two-bed and the cheapest tower in each of the districts at the top of this page. Buying to let? The rental yield calculator says what a price returns, rental yields in Dubai ranks these same areas by what their homes actually returned — the cheap end of this ladder is the top of that one — and the rent vs buy calculator whether owning beats renting over the years you would stay. What the 4% transfer fee and the rest of the bill come to is in the cost of buying, and where a foreign national can own at all is in the freehold areas. To go straight to what is on the market, start with property for rent or for sale.