A ready two-bedroom for under AED 1 million: where the register still shows them

Over the twelve months to 2026-09-17, the median two-bedroom apartment in Dubai sold for AED 1.9M if ready and AED 2.4M if off-plan. Both are far above AED 1 million. Can a buyer still get a ready two-bed under that line, and where? And does off-plan in the same areas ever come in as cheap?

The register labels every sale ready or off-plan and records its price and size, which is enough to count both sides of the line and to compare the two kinds area by area. This guide uses one worked example throughout: a ready two-bed of 1,200 sqft bought at AED 910,000 and let at AED 70,000 a year. That is a 7.7% gross yield, which the last sections set against what Ejari leases say each area rents for.

How many sold under the line

Among all two-bedroom sales over the year, off-plan outnumbered ready by 2.5 to one, and still the ready side supplies most of what sold under AED 1 million. For every off-plan two-bed under the line there were 4.3 ready ones.

The stricter test is the worked example's spec: at least 1,200 sqft (111 sqm) for no more than AED 910,000. 66 ready two-beds met it and 11 off-plan ones did. Off-plan at that price and size does exist, but the ratio is 6 to 1, so a buyer shopping at that spec is shopping mostly in completed stock.

Where they sold

Areas with at least 10 sampled two-bed sales under AED 1 million, with the median price of all two-beds sold there on each side. Ready two-beds under the line turned up in 33 areas over the year; off-plan ones in 11.

Most rows are ready-dominated. In Wadi Al Safa 5, the area with the most sub-line two-beds, the median ready two-bed sold for AED 900K at 116 sqm (1,254 sqft), close to the worked example, while the median off-plan two-bed there cost AED 1.6M.

Dubai Investment Park First runs the other way. It accounts for 32 of the 70 off-plan two-beds under the line, and so few ready two-beds sold there that the area has no ready price to compare with. Take it out and off-plan under AED 1 million comes to 38 sampled sales spread over 10 other areas.

Same area, both kinds

A citywide ready median against a citywide off-plan median compares different parts of Dubai, because launches sit in different districts from completed stock. The off-plan premium by area makes that point for price per square metre. Here the comparison stays inside each area and uses what a two-bed buyer pays: the total price, and the size it buys. Areas need 20 sampled sales on each side.

The off-plan two-bed was dearer in 26 of 27 areas, by a median +29%, and smaller in 17 of them. Size explains little of that. Citywide the median ready two-bed is 118 sqm (1,274 sqft) and the median off-plan one 115 sqm (1,240 sqft), a gap of 3 sqm. The price gap is far wider, AED 1.9M for the median ready two-bed against AED 2.4M off-plan.

The example's rent, against Ejari

The example's rent works out below the typical area rate, so AED 70,000 is a modest rent for 1,200 sqft. The 7.7% comes from the purchase price. The table puts the example in each area from the list above that has Ejari data: the rent the 2025 rate implies for 1,200 sqft, and the gross yield on that area's median ready two-bed at the same rate.

Across these areas the median ready two-bed yields 5.7% to 9.2% gross at the area rate, and 6 of 11 come in under the example's 7.7%. The example sits inside that range.

The payment plan side

The register records the full contract price of an off-plan sale on the day it is registered. It holds no field for how that price is paid. An off-plan buyer typically pays a deposit, then instalments while the building goes up, and on some plans further instalments for years after handover. A ready buyer pays the whole price at transfer, from cash or a mortgage.

That changes what the price comparison can tell you. On total cost, the tables above are the right comparison, and in most areas the off-plan two-bed costs more. On cash needed at the start, the comparison favours off-plan, and the register cannot measure by how much. The two also earn differently: a ready unit can be let from the day it transfers, as the worked example assumes, while an off-plan unit earns nothing until it is built. Some of the premium in the tables pays for that spread and some for a newer building, and the register records one price for both.

Can you still get one?

Yes, and mostly as a ready unit. 302 sampled ready two-beds sold under AED 1 million over the year, across 33 areas, and in most of the areas where they sell the off-plan two-bed costs more for a similar size. Off-plan at the worked example's spec is rare: 11 sampled sales, 7 of them in Dubai Investment Park First, where almost no ready two-beds sold to compare against.

Related reading: what a Dubai apartment costs by budget covers every price band and room count, studio prices runs the same ready against off-plan question one size down, and Dubai rental yields explains the Ejari rates used above.

Data comes from Dubai Land Department sales records and Ejari lease contracts through 2026-09-17. It covers registered sales only, is market reference rather than valuation, and is not investment advice.