Palm Jebel Ali: two villa plots of the same size, AED 6.3 million apart

In the twelve months to 30 September 2026, the Dubai Land Department registered 279 plot sales on Palm Jebel Ali. The median sale was AED 28,194,000, about USD 7.7 million, for a plot of about 7,577 square feet.

One thing matters before reading any of these figures. The villas on Palm Jebel Ali are sold together with their plot, and the sale is registered as a sale of land. The price in the register is the price of the villa and the plot together, and the size is the size of the plot, not of the house. So price per square foot here means price per square foot of plot. It cannot be compared with a price per square foot of built-up area on a listing.

The island as a whole

Across all 279 sales, the median price was AED 3,027 per square foot of plot, about USD 824. The middle half of sales, once the cheapest quarter and the most expensive quarter are set aside, sold between AED 2,462 and AED 3,681 per square foot. That is a wide range for one island, and most of it comes from two things: the frond, and the size of the plot.

The frond

Plots in the Beach and Coral Collection on Fronds B, C and D sold at medians of AED 3,626 to AED 3,941 per square foot. On the other fronds with plots of a standard size, the medians ran from AED 2,487 to AED 2,999.

Take two plots of almost the same size. In the Beach and Coral Collection on Frond C, the median sale was AED 28,345,000 for 7,557 square feet. On Frond N, it was AED 22,000,000 for 7,375 square feet. That is AED 6,345,000 apart, about USD 1.7 million, for plots within 200 square feet of each other. Per square foot of plot, the Frond C collection sold 24% higher.

Part of that difference is the villa itself. The collections are different products, released at different times, with different specifications. The register records the price, not what is built, so ask what villa comes with the plot you are offered, and compare it with sales of the same product.

The size of the plot

Larger plots sell for less per square foot. Plots of 5,000 to 9,999 square feet sold at a median of AED 3,582 per square foot. Plots of 10,000 to 19,999 square feet sold at AED 2,424, about a third less. Plots of 20,000 to 49,999 square feet sold at AED 2,157. A large plot at a low price per square foot is not a bargain in itself. It is what large plots cost.

Over time

Plot sales on the island appear in the register from 2023. The median price per square foot of plot was AED 2,559 in 2023 (550 sales), AED 2,637 in 2024 (222 sales), AED 2,832 in 2025 (681 sales) and AED 2,998 in 2026 to the end of September (176 sales). That is 17% higher than in 2023. A yearly median reflects which plots happened to sell that year, so read it as a direction, not as the gain on any one villa.

What I would check before buying

• Compare the asking price with sales on the same frond and in the same collection, not with the island median.
• Compare it with plots of a similar size.
• Ask whether the price covers the plot alone or the villa and the plot, and which area the price per square foot is worked out on.
• Check the plot in the land register: its registered area and its land type.
• Check the developer's payment plan and the delivery date against the project register.

This is what the new Ledgard plot report sets out for any plot in Dubai, including plot-based villas: the registered plot sales in the area by sub-community, by plot size and month by month, plot prices since 2000, and the plot's own entry in the land register.

Figures are from plot sales on Palm Jebel Ali, registered as Palm Jabal Ali, recorded by the Dubai Land Department between 7 October 2025 and 30 September 2026, after removing registrations that are not a sale and the cheapest and most expensive 1% by price per square foot. Where a villa is sold with the plot, the price includes the villa. Medians compare different plots, not the same villa, and are not a valuation of any property.