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Academic City
A guide to living in Academic City, Dubai — what it sells for, what it rents for, the buildings, and who to ask. Every figure is drawn from the Dubai Land Department’s registers: sales through September 2026, rents through September 2026.
What Academic City actually sells for — every building, ranked by recorded price →
What Academic City rents for — recorded tenancies by layout, and the yield →
At a glance
Academic City in numbers
- Made of
- 1 villa projects with a recorded sale history
- Sales on record
- 61 since 2026 — the latest registered 3 Sept 2026
- Tenancies
- 188 registered with Ejari in the last twelve months — 84% new leases, 16% renewals
The guide
Living in Academic City
Academic City is the district of universities on the Al Ain road beside Silicon Oasis, and nearly all of it is campuses. A residential building or two on its edge houses the people who work and study there, and they trade as some of the cheapest flats on the eastern side of the city.
The place
The district lies along the Dubai to Al Ain road with Silicon Oasis on one side, Dubai Land Residence Complex and Liwan nearby and the airport a short run. Its campuses sit at its centre; its residential buildings sit at its edge near the main roads, with Silicon Oasis's mall and shops a short drive.
What you get
Apartments from studios to family layouts in a small number of buildings, plainly built and well let.
Who it suits
Tenants and buyers who work or study in the district and want a flat at the lowest price near it. Investors, whose yields here have been among the higher in the city.
It suits people less well who want a neighbourhood, green, or a short run to the Marina end of the city.
Buying and renting here
The buildings are few enough that each trades on its own record, and the tables on this page should be read building by building; every building has its own page with what its layouts actually fetched. For tenants, the official index caps a renewal while a new lease follows the market.
What it costs to rent
What Academic City rents for
Every residential tenancy registered with Ejari in Academic City in the last twelve months. Annual rents, medians. A renewal is capped by the RERA index; a new lease is the market.
| Layout | Typical size | Median rent | New lease | Renewal | Contracts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 265 sqft | 19,000 | 19,000 | 45,150 | 153 |
| 2 B/R | 1,124 sqft | 80,300 | 84,000 | 80,300 | 31 |
188 tenancies were registered in Academic City in the last twelve months, 84% of them new leases. A studio let for a median AED 19,000 a year — AED 19,000 on a new lease against AED 45,150 on a renewal.
The full rental report — rents by year, and the buildings the register names →
Questions people ask
Academic City, answered from the register
What does a studio rent for in Academic City?
A studio in Academic City let for a median AED 19,000 a year across 153 Ejari contracts registered in the last twelve months — AED 19,000 on a new lease against AED 45,150 on a renewal, which the RERA index caps.
How many villa projects are there in Academic City?
1 villa projects in Academic City carry a recorded sale history. Each has its own page with every registered price, and 0 of them have enough recent resales to be ranked by price per square foot.