Studios cost more per square metre than one-beds, and less in total
Price per square metre and total price rank studios and one-beds in opposite orders, in area after area. Which one to use, and when.
Comparing studios against one-bedroom units by price per square metre and by total price gives opposite answers, and the gap between the two readings only gets wider once you look inside a single area.
Studio, AED/sqm
17,956 AED/sqm
total price AED 677K
One-bed, AED/sqm
17,244 AED/sqm
total price AED 1.2M
Citywide, that is a gap of 4% per square metre in the studio's favour, against a total-price gap of -45% in the one-bed's favour. Same two unit types, opposite winner, depending only on which column you read.
The gap widens once you look inside an area
Pooling every area into one citywide number understates what happens inside any one of them. Across the 41 areas with enough sampled sales on both sides, the median area-level gap is 14%, with a quartile range of 5% to 22%. Studios carry a higher median AED/sqm than one-beds in 34 of those areas, against only 7 running the other way.
| Area | Studio vs one-bed AED/sqm | Studio median | One-bed median | Sampled sales (studio/one-bed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nad Al Shiba First | 109% | 38,620 AED/sqm | 18,459 AED/sqm | 347 / 362 |
| Wadi Al Safa 2 | 53% | 17,619 AED/sqm | 11,514 AED/sqm | 228 / 608 |
| Nadd Hessa | 45% | 14,782 AED/sqm | 10,165 AED/sqm | 756 / 1,281 |
| Marsa Dubai | 35% | 36,445 AED/sqm | 27,041 AED/sqm | 923 / 2,457 |
| Al Hebiah Fourth | 32% | 14,721 AED/sqm | 11,193 AED/sqm | 1,319 / 1,119 |
Why the two measures disagree
In 34 of the 34 areas where studios carry the higher AED/sqm, the studio median total price is still the lower of the two. Marsa Dubai is a clean example: studios there run 36,445 AED/sqm per square metre against 27,041 AED/sqm for one-beds, but the median total price sits at AED 1.3M for the studio against a higher AED 2.1M for the one-bed.
A studio covers less floor area, and the kitchen, bathroom, and entry hallway built into any unit take up a larger share of a smaller footprint. That is what pushes the per-square-metre rate up while the total price stays down.
Both readings hold at once, because they answer different questions: which unit costs more to build per square metre of usable space, and which one costs less to buy outright.
Not every area runs the same direction
One-bedroom units price higher per square metre than studios in the same area in 7 areas, among them Dubai Investment Park First, Wadi Al Safa 4, Al Merkadh, Al Hebiah First, Madinat Hind 4, Al Hebiah Third, Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid. "The smaller unit always costs more per square metre" is not a universal rule either. It needs checking area by area.
Using these numbers
A citywide percentage cannot answer which unit type costs more per square metre in one specific area. The area-level comparison can. But that same comparison cannot answer which one costs less overall, as Marsa Dubai shows. The off-plan versus ready gap runs into a similar structural mix-up, covered in the off-plan premium guide. The reverse pattern between villa and apartment pricing is covered in why villa AED/sqm often sits below apartments.
Data comes from Dubai Land Department historical sales records through 2026-08-13. It covers sales only, not rentals, and is market reference, not valuation or investment advice.