International City is where Dubai's price and rent stories pull furthest apart. On registered Ejari contracts it has the highest gross rental yield of all twelve districts in our data set. On sale prices, it gave anyone who bought between 2014 and 2017 a loss that has still not closed. Both statements come from the same official registers, and this page shows how they fit together.
Everything below is built from the Dubai Land Department (DLD) sales register — what buyers actually paid for ready studios and one-bedroom flats — plus median rents on Ejari-registered tenancy contracts. "Today" means the twelve months from 24.09.2025 to 23.09.2026.
These are historical deal figures, not investment advice and not a forecast. What happened to past buyers says nothing certain about the next ones. An area median is the middle of a year's registered sales, not the value of a particular flat: the cluster, floor, condition and whether the unit is tenanted all move a real price.
International City apartment prices today
| Unit | Median sale, AED | In USD (peg 3.6725) | DLD sales, 12 months | Median rent, AED/year | Ejari contracts | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 333,000 | ~$90,700 | 525 | 30,000 | 9,357 | 9.0% |
| 1 bedroom | 450,000 | ~$122,500 | 543 | 40,000 | 9,702 | 8.9% |
Sources: DLD register (September–December 2025) and our own pull of the live DLD open-data API (2026) for prices; Dubai Data (Ejari) for rents. Gross yield is simply rent divided by price: 30,000 / 333,000 = 9.0%. It is before service charges, empty months, maintenance and management, so the net figure is lower — the method for getting from gross to net is in rental yield in Dubai. How these two lines sit against the other districts is in rental yield by area; we do not repeat that table here.
Two details worth noticing. Almost ten thousand rent contracts per unit type against roughly five hundred sales: International City is far more of a renters' district than a traders' one. And the median one-bedroom here (450,000) is below the median studio of every other district where we track studios, including Dubai Sports City (470,000).
Price history: studio and one-bedroom, 2008–2025
Median sale price, AED, ready apartments, DLD register. Years 2008–2011 carry "≈": the register for those years does not show the crash reliably, so the game scales the 2012 median with the Dubai-wide REIDIN price index (published by the BIS). Those four rows move in lockstep with the whole city and are an estimate, not recorded International City deals.
| Year | Studio, AED | Studio sales | 1 bed, AED | 1 bed sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | ≈260,000 | estimate | ≈418,000 | estimate |
| 2009 | ≈210,000 | estimate | ≈338,000 | estimate |
| 2010 | ≈181,000 | estimate | ≈292,000 | estimate |
| 2011 | ≈177,000 | estimate | ≈285,000 | estimate |
| 2012 | 198,500 | 854 | 320,000 | 855 |
| 2013 | 300,000 | 1,461 | 400,000 | 1,309 |
| 2014 | 380,000 | 1,081 | 500,000 | 1,126 |
| 2015 | 350,000 | 823 | 486,500 | 676 |
| 2016 | 350,000 | 764 | 489,000 | 724 |
| 2017 | 340,000 | 604 | 470,000 | 525 |
| 2018 | 275,000 | 491 | 380,000 | 483 |
| 2019 | 230,000 | 486 | 330,000 | 463 |
| 2020 | 210,000 | 297 | 307,500 | 274 |
| 2021 | 205,000 | 387 | 300,000 | 429 |
| 2022 | 215,000 | 757 | 315,000 | 652 |
| 2023 | 240,000 | 814 | 340,000 | 658 |
| 2024 | 280,000 | 732 | 395,000 | 785 |
| 2025 | 315,000 | 750 | 430,000 | 746 |
| Today | 333,000 | 525 | 450,000 | 543 |
The shape is a steep climb, a long plateau and a long slide. From 2012 to 2014 the studio median almost doubled (198,500 → 380,000, +91%) and the one-bedroom rose 56%. Then prices held near the top for four years before falling to a bottom in 2021 — studio 205,000, one-bedroom 300,000. When we compare one reference unit per district across all twelve districts in our data, the other eleven bottomed in 2019 or 2020; International City's one-bedroom is the only one whose low falls in 2021. The register records the timing; it does not record the reason, and we do not guess at one.
From the 2014 peak to the 2021 trough: studio −46% (380,000 → 205,000), one-bedroom −40% (500,000 → 300,000). Today both are still under their 2014 medians: studio −12%, one-bedroom −10%.
International City price per sq ft
DLD records area in square metres. Our yardstick: the year's median price ÷ the year's median unit size in m² ÷ 10.764 (square feet per square metre). A 2025 studio: 315,000 / 44.5 m² ≈ 7,080 AED/m² → 7,080 / 10.764 ≈ 660 AED/ft².
| Unit (median size) | 2012 | 2014 | 2021 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio (44.5–45 m²) | ~414 AED/ft² | ~793 AED/ft² | ~423 AED/ft² | ~658 AED/ft² |
| 1 bed (68 m²) | ~437 AED/ft² | ~683 AED/ft² | ~410 AED/ft² | ~587 AED/ft² |
Median sizes barely moved in 14 years (studios 44.5–45 m², one-bedrooms 68 m² every year), which makes International City's price series cleaner than in districts where newer, smaller units changed the mix. It is still a median over a median, not a valuation of a unit.
Four losing entry years — and not one of them loses with rent
Here is the core of this district's record. "Buy" = today's median − the year's median − the DLD transfer fee (2% up to 2013, 4% from 2014, per Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013). "Let" adds the gross rent the unit could have earned from purchase to today, measured against price plus fee. Each figure opens the matching card in our game.
| Bought in | Studio: buy | Studio: let | 1 bed: buy | 1 bed: let |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 ≈ | +26% | +191% | +6% | +143% |
| 2009 ≈ | +56% | +251% | +30% | +193% |
| 2010 ≈ | +80% | +297% | +51% | +230% |
| 2011 ≈ | +84% | +295% | +55% | +229% |
| 2012 | +64% | +243% | +38% | +186% |
| 2013 | +9% | +120% | +10% | +121% |
| 2014 | −16% | +64% | −14% | +68% |
| 2015 | −8% | +71% | −11% | +65% |
| 2016 | −8% | +62% | −12% | +56% |
| 2017 | −6% | +58% | −8% | +54% |
| 2018 | +16% | +85% | +14% | +80% |
| 2019 | +39% | +109% | +31% | +96% |
| 2020 | +52% | +117% | +41% | +100% |
| 2021 | +56% | +113% | +44% | +96% |
| 2022 | +49% | +94% | +37% | +79% |
| 2023 | +33% | +65% | +27% | +57% |
| 2024 | +14% | +34% | +10% | +28% |
| 2025 | +2% | +11% | +1% | +9% |
Of the 36 International City cards, 8 are negative on price, and all eight sit in 2014–2017: four consecutive entry years for both unit types, down to −16%. The same eight cards are all positive once rent is counted, from +54% to +71%.
Take the 2015 studio. Bought at 350,000 AED, fee 14,000, worth 333,000 today: −31,000 AED on price. Gross rent over those years adds up to an estimated 289,500 AED. Together that is +258,500 AED, or +71% on price plus fee. The 2014 one-bedroom tells the same story at a larger scale: −70,000 AED on price, about 423,100 AED of gross rent, +68% in total.
Rent did not erase the effect of timing, though. A studio bought at the 2021 bottom shows +56% on price and +113% with rent, against +64% with rent for the 2014 buyer — who has also held for seven years longer. High rent softened a bad entry; it did not make entry price irrelevant.
Notice also the 2025 row. In most districts, 2025 cards are red because the 4% fee cannot be recovered in under a year. Here the studio median rose from 315,000 to 333,000 over the same period, enough to leave both cards slightly positive after the fee.
What pushed prices up to 2014 and down after it
The events below are Dubai-wide, sourced, and used by the game; they do not describe International City specifically.
- 27.11.2013 — Dubai won Expo 2020 (BIE). The market rose to a peak in autumn 2014.
- October 2013 — the DLD transfer fee doubled from 2% to 4% (Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013), and the UAE Central Bank capped loan-to-value ratios (Circular 31/2013).
- 2015 — the IMF (Country Report 15/219) described prices declining from mid-2014: heavy new supply, cheaper oil and a strong dollar.
- October 2014 → November 2020 — the REIDIN index fell 33%.
- 2020 — Covid measures; Expo moved to 2021. In the index, Dubai prices bottomed in November 2020.
International City's one-bedroom median fell 40% from its 2014 peak to its 2021 low, and its 2021 annual median was still below 2020's, although the city index had bottomed in November 2020. Annual district medians and a monthly citywide index are not measured the same way, so compare the direction, not the exact percentages.
The 2008 studio: +26% after 17 years
The oldest card is also the one people ask about most: what if you bought at the 2008 peak? The studio median then is estimated at ≈260,000 AED. Today it is 333,000. After the 2% fee (5,200) that leaves +67,800 AED, +26%; with estimated gross rent, +191%. The one-bedroom from 2008 (≈418,000) is only +6%.
Two cautions. The 2008 price is an index estimate: the IMF (Country Report 11/111) put the fall from the 2008 peak at roughly 50%, while the REIDIN index shows 37%, and the game uses the index. And +26% over 17 years is a nominal figure, before inflation and before every cost the game leaves out. The citywide picture of those years is in the Dubai property crash of 2008–2011.
How reliable the rent numbers are
The "let" column is the most flattering one on this page, so its limits matter:
- Gross, not net. No service charges, no vacancy, no maintenance, no letting fees.
- Past rents are rebuilt. Today's median rent is scaled back year by year with the district's Ejari rent index (median AED/m² on that year's contracts against today's). Years with fewer than 300 contracts in the district are held at the level of the first reliable year — an assumption, not data. The oldest cards lean on it most.
- Continuous letting is assumed. A single empty year on a 30,000 AED studio removes 30,000 AED from the total.
Letting in International City: the rules that apply
A 9% gross yield is only reached if the tenancy works. Three sets of rules matter to a landlord here.
Shared housing — Dubai Law No. 4 of 2026. According to the Dubai Media Office announcement of 11.03.2026, the law bans allocating a residential unit to shared housing without a permit (issued by the Director General of Dubai Municipality in coordination with DLD). Fines run from AED 500 to AED 500,000, doubled for a repeat within a year up to AED 1 million. The law takes effect 180 days after publication; existing arrangements get one year to comply, extendable once, and tenants may not let out parts of the unit. We have not read the full text of the law, only the official announcement. This concerns any landlord in Dubai who lets by the room or allows sub-letting, whatever the district; we make no claim about how common that is in International City.
Rent increases — Decree No. 43 of 2013. A renewal increase is capped by how far the current rent sits below the RERA rental index average: up to 10% below — no increase; 11–20% below — up to 5%; 21–30% — 10%; 31–40% — 15%; more than 40% below — 20%. A party wanting to change terms must notify the other at least 90 days before the contract ends, unless the contract says otherwise (Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008). Every lease must be registered in Ejari.
Disputes — the Rental Disputes Centre (RDC). Filing costs 3.5% of the annual rent, minimum AED 500: on a 30,000 AED studio lease that is AED 1,050. First-instance decisions on claims below AED 100,000 are final, with listed exceptions such as eviction cases. The full procedure is in rental disputes at the RDC; building costs that cut into the yield are in service charges.
What it costs to buy at these prices
Both medians are below AED 500,000, which puts them in DLD's lower trustee band. From DLD's official schedule:
| Item | Studio at 333,000 | 1 bed at 450,000 |
|---|---|---|
| DLD transfer fee 4% | 13,320 | 18,000 |
| Trustee (AED 2,000 + 5% VAT) | 2,100 | 2,100 |
| Title deed 250 + unit plan 250 + knowledge 10 + innovation 10 | 520 | 520 |
| Total official fees | 15,940 | 20,620 |
Agent commission, developer NOC and mortgage costs come on top. The full list is in costs of buying property in Dubai, and the purchase costs calculator runs it for any price.
Questions about International City prices
What is the average apartment price in International City Dubai?
The median registered sale over the 12 months to 23.09.2026 was 333,000 AED (about $90,700) for a studio and 450,000 AED (about $122,500) for a one-bedroom, DLD register. Individual units can be well above or below.
Did anyone lose money buying in International City?
On price, yes: every studio and one-bedroom card from 2014 to 2017, between −6% and −16% after the fee. With gross rent included, none of the 36 cards is negative.
When were International City prices lowest?
In 2021 by registered medians: studio 205,000 AED, one-bedroom 300,000 AED. The 2011 estimates are lower still, but they come from an index, not from recorded deals.
Is International City a good investment?
We only answer with the past: entries in 2014–2017 are down on price and up with rent; every other entry year from 2008 to 2025 is up on both. That is history, not advice, and not a forecast.
Before you buy or let
A district median does not tell you whether a particular unit has service-charge arrears, what its title deed says, or whether a tenant is in place and on what terms. Our real estate practice checks the property, its documents and the deal before you pay; we do not promise a result. For every district side by side, see Dubai areas compared and 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 Reports 11/111 and 15/219; Resolution No. 30 of 2013; Decree No. 43 of 2013%20of%202013%20Determining%20Rent%20Increase%20for%20Real%20Property.html); Dubai Media Office on Law No. 4 of 2026; dirham peg.