Arjan has the shortest price record of any district in our data, and one of the most uneven. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) sales register holds enough ready-studio deals to build a yearly median only from 2014, and in those twelve years the median jumped 77% in one year, then lost 45% by 2019, then climbed 86% from that low to today. This page sets out what the register shows, what a buyer from each year holds today, and what Ejari-registered rents add — and why, in a district where most registrations are off-plan, the legal questions look different from the price questions.
All prices are medians of registered sales of ready apartments. "Today" means the twelve months from 24.09.2025 to 23.09.2026. Dollar figures use the dirham's peg of 3.6725 AED per USD.
These are historical transaction figures, not investment advice and not a forecast. Past buyers' results do not predict future ones. A district median is the middle of a year's recorded sales — it is not the value of any particular apartment, and in a thin series like Arjan's it can move with the mix of units sold.
Arjan apartment prices today
| Studio, last 12 months | AED | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Median registered sale | 595,000 | ~$162,000 |
| Sales recorded | 547 | — |
| Median annual rent (Ejari) | 47,000 | ~$12,800 |
| Ejari contracts | 3,986 | — |
| Gross rental yield | 7.9% | — |
Sources: DLD register (September–December 2025) and our own pull of the live DLD open-data API (2026); rents from Ejari contracts via Dubai Data. Gross yield = 47,000 / 595,000. It ignores service charges, empty months, maintenance and management; the gross-to-net method is in rental yield in Dubai.
Only one unit type appears here because only studios clear our threshold of 25 ready sales a year, every year, from 2014 onward. There is no one- or two-bedroom series long enough to show, and there are no index-based "≈" estimates for 2008–2011: the register shows just 36 ready sales of any home type in the whole district in 2012 and 67 in 2013.
Is Arjan a good investment? What twelve entry years show
We can only answer with the past. The table below is what a studio bought at each year's median would show today. "Buy" = today's median (595,000) − the purchase-year median − the 4% DLD transfer fee. "Let" adds estimated gross rent from purchase to today. Trustee, title-deed and agent costs are not included. Each year opens the matching card in our game.
| Bought in | Median paid, AED | Result today, AED | In USD | Buy | Let |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 328,176 | +253,697 | +$69,080 | +74% | +212% |
| 2015 | 581,836 | −10,109 | −$2,753 | −2% | +68% |
| 2016 | 475,000 | +101,000 | +$27,502 | +20% | +96% |
| 2017 | 480,000 | +95,800 | +$26,086 | +19% | +85% |
| 2018 | 420,000 | +158,200 | +$43,077 | +36% | +100% |
| 2019 | 320,000 | +262,200 | +$71,396 | +79% | +150% |
| 2020 | 450,000 | +127,000 | +$34,581 | +27% | +70% |
| 2021 | 400,000 | +179,000 | +$48,741 | +43% | +85% |
| 2022 | 405,000 | +173,800 | +$47,325 | +41% | +76% |
| 2023 | 425,000 | +153,000 | +$41,661 | +35% | +61% |
| 2024 | 505,000 | +69,800 | +$19,006 | +13% | +29% |
| 2025 | 560,000 | +12,600 | +$3,431 | +2% | +10% |
One of twelve Arjan cards is negative on price, and none is negative once rent is counted. Across the whole game — 44 market objects, 706 cards — 82 "buy" cards are negative.
The 2025 line is worth a second look. Among the eleven 2025 cards of the five districts added to the game in September 2026, six are negative today, mostly because a 4% fee cannot be recovered in under a year. Arjan's studio median rose from 560,000 to 595,000 AED over that period (+6%), enough to leave a small gain after the fee.
Best entry year: 2019. Worst: 2015
2015, −2%. A studio at the 2015 median of 581,836 AED plus a 23,273 AED fee is worth 595,000 today: −10,109 AED, about −$2,750. The citywide backdrop that year was a falling market. The IMF (Country Report 15/219, August 2015) described prices declining from mid-2014 on heavy new supply, cheaper oil and a strong dollar, and the REIDIN index (via the BIS) shows Dubai prices falling 33% from October 2014 to November 2020. The 2015 studio buyer in Sports City is at −29% today and in International City at −9%; Arjan's loss is shallow by comparison — and with estimated gross rent of 420,200 AED since purchase, the same card is +68%.
2019, +79%. Median 320,000 AED, fee 12,800, today 595,000: +262,200 AED, about +$71,400 — the best 2019 result among the 167 cards of the five newly added districts. The buyer entered just ahead of the citywide low: in April 2020 Dubai ran round-the-clock sterilisation and Expo moved to 2021 (Dubai Media Office, 04.04.2020); the REIDIN index bottomed in November 2020. Then came the turn: 84,196 transactions in 2021, 66% more than in 2020 (DLD); a lowered AED 2 million golden-visa threshold in 2022 (Gulf News, 20.04.2022); 226,000 deals worth AED 761 billion in 2024 (Dubai Media Office, 26.01.2025); more than 270,000 worth AED 917 billion in 2025 (Dubai Department of Finance, 12.01.2026).
The 2019 median rests on 45 sales, so part of that result may be the particular units sold that year rather than the market. The 2014 card (+74%) stands on 39 sales. For best and worst entry years across all districts, see was buying in Dubai worth it.
The 2015 spike and the 2019 low: reading a thin series
| Year | Median, AED | Sales | Median size, m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 328,176 | 39 | 44.2 |
| 2015 | 581,836 | 329 | 46.4 |
| 2016 | 475,000 | 54 | 44.9 |
| 2017 | 480,000 | 55 | 46.1 |
| 2018 | 420,000 | 49 | 45.5 |
| 2019 | 320,000 | 45 | 45.8 |
| 2020 | 450,000 | 195 | 42.5 |
| 2021 | 400,000 | 102 | 40.0 |
| 2022 | 405,000 | 257 | 43.2 |
| 2023 | 425,000 | 294 | 39.3 |
| 2024 | 505,000 | 467 | 39.2 |
| 2025 | 560,000 | 611 | 38.6 |
| Today | 595,000 | 547 | — |
Two years break the pattern, and we show them as data, not as stories.
2015. The median rose from 328,176 to 581,836 AED (+77%) on 329 studio sales, against 39 the year before — while the citywide market was already falling. The district-wide register tells us one more thing about that year: 464 ready sales of all home types, against 109 in both 2014 and 2016, and an off-plan share of just 6% of registrations, against 72% and 66% on either side. Which buildings changed hands, and on what terms, is not visible in our register aggregates, and none of our sources explains the jump. What it shows is how much a median depends on which units happen to be sold in a given year.
2019. The lowest median in the series, 320,000 AED, on 45 sales: −45% from 2015. A year later the median was 450,000 (+41%) on 195 sales, although the citywide index did not bottom until November 2020. An annual district median on a few dozen deals and a monthly citywide index are different measurements; compare direction, not exact percentages.
Measured against the other districts in our data on a peak (2014–15) to trough (2019–21) basis, Arjan's −45% sits between International City (−40%) and Motor City (−49%), with Dubai Sports City deeper at −51% and JVC shallow at −19%. One caveat: the other districts are compared on one-bedroom units, Arjan on studios, because that is the only series it has.
Arjan price per sq ft
The DLD register records size in square metres. Our yardstick is the year's median price ÷ the year's median size ÷ 10.764 — a rough guide, not a median of per-foot prices.
| Year | Median size | ≈ AED per sq ft | ≈ USD per sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 476 sq ft | 690 | 188 |
| 2015 | 499 sq ft | 1,165 | 317 |
| 2019 | 493 sq ft | 649 | 177 |
| 2020 | 457 sq ft | 984 | 268 |
| 2023 | 423 sq ft | 1,005 | 274 |
| 2024 | 422 sq ft | 1,197 | 326 |
| 2025 | 415 sq ft | 1,348 | 367 |
Studios sold in Arjan have shrunk: the median unit was 46.4 m² (about 499 sq ft) in 2015 and 38.6 m² (about 415 sq ft) in 2025, 17% smaller. That is why the 2025 median price (560,000) is below 2015's (581,836) while the price per foot is about 16% higher. The 2015 per-foot level was not exceeded again until 2024. When you compare a listing with "the Arjan price", compare per foot.
Arjan against neighbouring studio markets
Ready studios, last twelve months (DLD register and Ejari contracts to 23.09.2026):
| District | Studio median, AED | USD | Sales | Rent, AED/yr | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JVC | 610,000 | ~$166,100 | 1,138 | 48,000 | 7.9% |
| Arjan | 595,000 | ~$162,000 | 547 | 47,000 | 7.9% |
| Discovery Gardens | 515,000 | ~$140,200 | 415 | 41,440 | 8.0% |
| Dubai Sports City | 470,000 | ~$128,000 | 451 | 40,000 | 8.5% |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 462,250 | ~$125,900 | 116 | 40,425 | 8.7% |
| International City | 333,000 | ~$90,700 | 525 | 30,000 | 9.0% |
Today Arjan and JVC studios sit 15,000 AED apart on price and 1,000 AED apart on rent. They took very different routes there: the JVC studio median was 500,000 in 2015 and 405,000 in 2019, Arjan's 581,836 and 320,000. So the same budget in 2015 bought a larger loss in Arjan than in JVC (−2% against +17% today), and in 2019 a larger gain (+79% against +45%).
District pages: JVC, International City, Dubai Sports City, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Discovery Gardens. Every district side by side is in Dubai areas compared; rent-to-price ratios across the city are in rental yield by area.
Most of Arjan's registrations are off-plan
Everything above is ready apartments. The district-wide DLD register shows that ready homes are the minority of registrations in Arjan in most years:
| Year | Ready sales | Off-plan share |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 109 | 66% |
| 2017 | 193 | 82% |
| 2018 | 135 | 78% |
| 2019 | 123 | 77% |
| 2020 | 466 | 37% |
| 2021 | 344 | 64% |
| 2022 | 686 | 74% |
| 2023 | 823 | 81% |
| 2024 | 1,098 | 76% |
| 2025 | 1,376 | 63% |
From 2016 to 2025 off-plan made up 63–82% of the district's registrations, 2020 (37%) being the exception. The share says nothing about the quality of any project; it says that a buyer here is more often signing with a developer for an unfinished unit than buying a finished one from an owner. Off-plan prices are not in our medians and should not be compared with them directly.
That changes the checklist. Under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, buyers' payments go into the project's escrow account and are released to the developer in stages. The contract is pre-registered in Oqood; the 4% fee is paid at that registration and not charged again on handover. How to verify the account and the registration is in escrow and Oqood; what to check about the developer before you sign is in developer due diligence; the trade-offs between the two routes are in off-plan vs ready property.
Rental yield and the landlord's rules
The "Let" column is the most generous one on this page, and it has limits. Rent is gross. Past rents are not observed: today's median (47,000 AED) is scaled back with the district's Ejari rent index, and years with fewer than 300 contracts in the district are held at the level of the first reliable year — an assumption that weighs most on Arjan's early cards. The game also assumes the flat was never empty; one vacant year removes 47,000 AED.
A landlord in Arjan follows the same Dubai rules as anywhere else in the emirate: every lease is registered in Ejari, a renewal increase is capped by Decree No. 43 of 2013 against the RERA rental index, and a party wanting to change terms gives at least 90 days' notice before the contract ends unless the contract says otherwise. Disputes go to the Rental Disputes Centre — see rental disputes at the RDC — and building costs that cut into yield are covered in service charges.
What buying a studio at the median costs
| Item (DLD official schedule) | AED | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee 4% of 595,000 | 23,800 | ~$6,480 |
| Trustee, AED 4,000 + 5% VAT (price from AED 500,000) | 4,200 | ~$1,144 |
| Title deed 250 + unit plan 250 + knowledge 10 + innovation 10 | 520 | ~$142 |
| Total official fees | 28,520 | ~$7,766 |
Agent commission, developer NOC and mortgage costs come on top: see costs of buying property in Dubai. The golden visa for property requires a unit worth at least AED 2 million at purchase (DLD); the Arjan studio median is 1,405,000 AED below that line — details in golden visa through property.
Questions about Arjan prices
What is the average apartment price in Arjan, Dubai?
For a ready studio, the median registered sale over the twelve months to 23.09.2026 was 595,000 AED, about $162,000, across 547 deals. Individual units can sit well above or below.
Did prices in Arjan ever fall?
Yes, on registered medians: from 581,836 AED in 2015 to 320,000 AED in 2019, −45%. From that low to today the median is up 86%. Both moves rest on thin samples in some years (45 sales in 2019).
Is Arjan a good place to live?
Our data cannot answer that: it covers prices, sales and rents, not amenities. What it does show is a large rental market — 3,986 Ejari contracts on studios in twelve months against 547 sales.
Is Arjan a good investment?
We answer only with history: of twelve entry years since 2014, only 2015 is below its purchase price today (−2%); with gross rent, all twelve are positive. That is not advice and not a forecast.
What rental yield does an Arjan studio give?
A gross 7.9%: median Ejari rent of 47,000 AED against a median price of 595,000 AED. Net yield is lower after service charges, vacancy and management.
Before you commit
An area median tells you the order of magnitude, not whether a specific unit is clean: service-charge arrears, what the title deed records, whether a tenant is in place and on what terms — and for off-plan, whether the contract is in Oqood and the account you are asked to pay into is the project's escrow. Our real estate practice checks the property, the documents and the contract before you pay; we do not promise any outcome. The purchase costs calculator shows what you will pay on top of the price, and the citywide picture is in Dubai property prices by year.
Sources: DLD open data and the DLD sales register; Ejari rents via Dubai Data and the Ejari rent index; REIDIN index via the BIS; IMF Country Report 15/219; Dubai Media Office, 04.04.2020; DLD, 2021 results; Gulf News, 20.04.2022; Dubai Media Office, 26.01.2025; Dubai Department of Finance, 12.01.2026; DLD golden visa for investors; dirham peg.