Dubai market evidence
Off-Plan vs Ready Property in Business Bay
How off-plan and ready (existing) prices compare inside Business Bay in the historical DLD transaction record — and how that gap differs from Dubai as a whole.
Business Bay — the numbers
Off-plan median
20,210 AED/sqm
53% of sampled sales
Ready (existing) median
13,706 AED/sqm
47% of sampled sales
Off-plan vs ready
+47%
Dubai overall: +65%
Sampled transactions
19,693
What the Business Bay gap means
Across 19,693 sampled sales in Business Bay, off-plan carries a median of 20,210 AED/sqm against 13,706 AED/sqm for ready stock — an off-plan median roughly 47% above ready units. Citywide the same comparison sits at +65%, so Business Bay runs 18 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 Business Bay 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 (53% 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 (47%) 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.