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.
Al Merkadh — the numbers
Off-plan median
18,191 AED/sqm
83% of sampled sales
Ready (existing) median
15,374 AED/sqm
17% of sampled sales
Off-plan vs ready
+18%
Dubai overall: +65%
Sampled transactions
11,091
What the Al Merkadh gap means
Across 11,091 sampled sales in Al Merkadh, off-plan carries a median of 18,191 AED/sqm against 15,374 AED/sqm for ready stock — an off-plan median roughly 18% above ready units. Citywide the same comparison sits at +65%, so Al Merkadh runs 47 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 (83% 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 (17%) is an existing unit that can be inspected and let immediately.
This is sales transaction evidence only and ends 2023-03-17. It is market reference, not valuation or investment advice.