Golf Edge

Emaar Properties is the developer behind Burj Khalifa, The Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Dubai Hills Estate and Dubai Creek Harbour. It is listed on the Dubai Financial Market and builds master-planned communities rather than individual plots, which is the practical difference for a buyer: you are buying into a scheme where the roads, parks, schools and retail are part of the same plan as the building.

What do they build?

Whole communities, and apartments, townhouses and villas within them. Across the 17 Emaar projects TRPE currently brokers, entry prices run from AED 1,120,000 to AED 7,260,000, with the smallest unit at 607 sq ft. Emaar sits at the upper-middle of the market: rarely the cheapest way into a given area, and rarely the riskiest.

Where do they build?

Across master communities it planned and still controls. Of the 17 projects we hold, 3 are in Dubai Creek Harbour.

• Dubai Creek Harbour — 3 projects, from AED 1,600,000 to AED 3,419,888
• Dubai Hills Estate — 3 projects, from AED 1,400,000 to AED 1,840,000
• Emaar South — 3 projects, from AED 1,120,000 to AED 3,200,000
• Mina Rashid — 3 projects, from AED 1,930,000 to AED 2,080,000
• The Valley — 2 projects, from AED 4,360,000 to AED 7,260,000
• Dubai Harbour — 1 project, from AED 1,161,888
• Emaar Beachfront — 1 project, from AED 3,480,000
• Expo City — 1 project, from AED 1,400,000

Because Emaar owns the master plan, what gets built next to your building is largely known in advance. That is a genuine advantage over buying a single plot in a district that is still filling in, and it is worth paying something for.

What should you check before buying?

• How much of the community is still to be delivered. In a phase that is barely started you carry years of construction next door; in a finished phase you pay more but you can see what you are buying.
• Service charges by community, not by developer. Downtown and Emaar Beachfront sit far above Emaar South or The Valley. It is the single number most buyers underestimate.
• Supply in the same community. Where a master plan releases several towers of similar apartments, they compete with each other at resale.
• The payment plan and the handover schedule in writing. We do not publish handover dates for these projects because we do not hold confirmed ones.

Are they a safe developer to buy from?

As safe as Dubai off-plan gets. Emaar is listed, government-linked and has delivered at scale for decades, and completion risk on an Emaar project is not the thing to lose sleep over. The real questions are about price and timing rather than delivery: whether the premium over a neighbouring developer is worth it for the specific unit, and whether the phase you are buying into is early or late. Those are the two we can actually help you answer.