Al Jaddaf sits on the Dubai Creek between Bur Dubai and Dubai Healthcare City, and it is one of the last genuinely central districts where a one bedroom apartment can still be bought under AED 1 million. That combination, creek frontage and a Downtown adjacent location at mid market prices, is the whole reason to look here.

What the area is

Historically a dry dock and boatyard district, now being rebuilt as residential. The result is mixed: new towers next to older industrial plots, with Dubai Festival City across the water and Downtown a short drive up the creek. It is not a finished neighbourhood and it does not pretend to be, which is reflected in the price.

Who it suits

Two kinds of buyer. Investors after yield on a small apartment in a central location, and people working at Dubai Healthcare City or in Bur Dubai who want a short commute without Downtown prices. It is less suited to families: the school and park provision is thin compared with the master communities, and you would be driving to both.

What it costs

We are currently marketing 9 properties for sale here: 9 apartments from AED 715,000 to AED 2,000,000.

We are currently marketing 6 properties to rent here: 6 apartments from AED 68,000 to AED 90,000.

Those are the units on our own books today, so the figures move. What they are useful for is establishing the shape of the market here rather than the exact price of the unit you end up buying.

Off-plan in Al Jaddaf

We also broker 4 off-plan projects here, from AED 966,874: Binghatti Ivory, Ghost by Binghatti, Binghatti Avenue, Binghatti Pinnacle. We do not publish handover dates, because we do not hold confirmed ones.

What to check before you buy here

• What is on the plot next door, and what is consented. More than anywhere else on this list, Al Jaddaf is still filling in. A creek view across an empty plot is temporary.
• Which side of the building you are on. A creek facing unit and a unit looking back over the industrial side are very different assets at similar prices.
• Service charges, which on a small apartment decide the return more than the purchase price does.
• Incoming supply. Several towers complete here in the same years, so ask what else is under construction within a few streets and when.
• Metro and road access at rush hour, driven rather than assumed. The location is central but the routes out are limited.

We can tell you which buildings here we would buy in and which we would avoid, and why.