Dubai market evidence
Off-Plan vs Ready Property in Al Merkadh
How off-plan and ready (existing) prices compare inside Al Merkadh in the historical DLD transaction record, and how that gap differs from Dubai as a whole.
The numbers for Al Merkadh
Off-plan median
20,534 AED/sqm
59% of sampled sales
Ready (existing) median
20,841 AED/sqm
41% of sampled sales
Off-plan vs ready
-1%
Dubai overall: +33%
Sampled transactions
6,082
What the Al Merkadh gap means
Across 6,082 sampled sales in Al Merkadh, off-plan carries a median of 20,534 AED/sqm against 20,841 AED/sqm for ready stock. That puts the off-plan median roughly 1% below ready units. Citywide the same comparison sits at +33%, so Al Merkadh runs 34 percentage points narrower than Dubai overall.
Comparing within a single area removes most of the location mix effect that distorts the citywide figure, but not all of it: off-plan launches inside Al Merkadh may still skew toward newer towers or larger layouts than the resale stock they are measured against. Narrow further by unit type before treating this as a like-for-like premium.
Off-plan (59% of sampled transactions here) is bought from a developer before or during construction, typically on a payment plan, carrying handover and delivery risk. Ready property (41%) is an existing unit that can be inspected and let immediately.
This is sales transaction evidence only and ends 2026-08-13. It is market reference, not valuation or investment advice.