How to compare a Dubai asking price with recorded sales

Define the apartment before searching

Write down the exact building, bedroom count, layout, documented area and asking price. Record whether you are comparing a whole apartment, and note what you know about its condition and occupancy. If the advert and property documents disagree, keep both figures visible until the difference is explained.

Be precise about the building. A development name shared by several towers is not enough to establish that two records concern the same tower. Ask whoever supplied the comparison to show how the building match was made.

Set a search period and record its start and end dates before selecting results. If the first search produces little useful evidence, widen one part of the search at a time. Keep the first result and the reason for widening it. This makes it harder to select only the sales that support an attractive headline.

Save records you can trace

The Dubai Land Department's Real Estate Data page provides transaction filters and lists fields including transaction number, date, type and subtype, registration type, amount, rooms and project. It distinguishes transaction size from property size, both shown in square metres. Those field names deserve attention before using a downloaded or forwarded table.

For each candidate, save its reference, source link or file, access date and the filters used. Preserve the original row alongside your notes. If a broker supplies only a screenshot of a price, request the underlying record and the details needed to match it to the apartment.

Do not treat a blank field as confirmation. The transaction table does not by itself establish a comparable apartment's view, interior condition or tenancy terms. Mark those details as unknown unless you have supporting evidence. Keep the date exactly as the source describes it; do not silently relabel a recorded transaction date as the day the parties agreed the price.

Our building pages can help you begin your research. Read the methodology and the displayed dates before using a summary. A building summary and an individual sale record serve different purposes.

Give every candidate a decision

Use four labels on your sheet:

• Keep for comparison: identity, sale type, price and area checks are resolved. List remaining differences.
• Context only: weaker background evidence; keep it outside the main calculation and explain why.
• Hold for clarification: a key detail is unresolved. State the question and who can answer it.
• Exclude: a mismatch or duplicate. Record the reason.

These are our worksheet labels, not official DLD classifications. Apply them consistently to expensive and inexpensive records. Investigate a surprising price before deciding whether to use it.

A worked selection exercise

Illustrative exercise: every record below is fictional. No named property, actual transaction or current market price is represented. The target is a completed two-bedroom apartment in an unnamed Dubai tower, offered as a whole unit. The buyer has chosen a recent search period and documented the target's area.

The result is two provisional comparison records, one background record, two questions to resolve and three exclusions. It is not a valuation, and two records are not a recommended minimum. If B's price cannot be explained well enough to rely on it, change its status to hold and explain why. Do not silently remove it to make A look representative.

Compare price and area on the same basis

First confirm that each amount and area refer to the same interest in the property. Do not divide an amount for a partial interest by the whole apartment's area. A mismatch between transaction size and property size needs clarification before calculation; the field names alone do not explain the difference.

Choose one area unit and use it throughout. If the source uses square metres, calculate both the asking rate and recorded-sale rates per square metre. Do not place a rate per square foot beside a rate per square metre as though they were equivalent. Also check what the area includes; matching units do not repair different measurement bases.

For a verified whole-unit record, recorded price per square metre = sale amount ÷ corresponding area in square metres. Calculate the asking rate using the asking price and a comparable documented area. Write both the total price and the rate on the sheet so a low total for a smaller apartment does not hide the size difference.

If you summarise the accepted rates with a median, retain the individual rates and the number of records. The median is the middle rate when sorted; with an even number of records, it is the average of the two middle rates. It describes your selected records. It does not correct a poor selection or establish the apartment's value.

Our separate guide to measured Dubai property price gaps explains the wider statistical question. Here, the useful output is the evidence behind the comparison, including the records left out.

Turn the comparison into questions before an offer

RICS, the professional body for surveyors, cautions that asking prices can differ from agreed prices and that published transactions may omit important circumstances. Its comparable-evidence standard calls for verification and consistent measurement, with differences and uncertainty considered. This is professional valuation guidance, not a Dubai rule prescribing a buyer's sample size.

Use your sheet to send a focused request: “These are the records I can trace. Please confirm the building match, area basis and unresolved differences before we use them to justify the asking price.” Attach the relevant references, not somebody else's private documents.

For the apartment you are buying, ask for evidence about the condition, included items and current tenancy or proposed handover arrangements. Keep unanswered questions visible. Do not invent a standard percentage for a view, renovation or vacancy simply to produce a precise-looking offer.

Price comparison is only part of the decision. Put annual service charges and other running costs in a separate comparison. If suitable sales remain scarce or a material difference cannot be resolved, commission an appropriately qualified property valuer before relying on a precise value estimate.

Questions buyers ask