Dubai Hills and nearby areas compared: transaction prices, rents, schools and roads

Apartments in Dubai Hills Estate can be compared with Jumeirah Village Circle and Al Barari, and villas with Arabian Ranches, Springs and District One. All districts were analysed using the same method: the same transaction types, filtering rule and period. Below are prices per square foot, average transaction values, the share of homes under construction, schools and roads.

What is being compared

Seven districts around Dubai Hills Estate: apartments, villas, transaction numbers and the share of off-plan purchases, January-September 2026.

Where the figures come from

Public Dubai Land Department (DLD) data, snapshots taken on 2 October 2026, Ejari tenancy contracts and the KHDA school directory.

What to bear in mind.

Rent is calculated only for Dubai Hills. For villas, the DLD record may list the plot area, so the median transaction value is shown alongside the price per square foot.

The editorial team, 22 October 2026. This article uses official data only: DLD transactions and tenancy contracts, the KHDA directory, RTA and Dubai Media Office announcements, and developer press releases. Where data is unavailable, it says so. The district's location, motorway access and journey times are covered in "Where Dubai Hills is, how to get around Dubai from here and which roads are being built". This article looks only at how Dubai Hills compares with its neighbours.

How districts were compared: one snapshot, one rule

Transactions come from public DLD data. The under-construction snapshot, taken on 2 October 2026 at 22:07, contained 83,973 transactions across Dubai; the completed-home snapshot, taken at 22:45 the same evening, contained 40,055. The same period was used for every district: January-September 2026.

Only sales were included: five DLD record types, Sell (Pre registration), Sale, Delayed Sell, Lease to Own Registration and Delayed Sell Lease to Own Registration. Other record types were excluded.

An apartment is defined as a record with the Flat subtype and a villa as one with the Villa subtype. Price per square foot is calculated by dividing the transaction value by the area in square metres multiplied by 10.7639.

Filtering had two stages. Within each DLD project, only transactions priced from 40% to 250% of the project's median price per square foot were retained. Within each housing type in a district, only transactions priced from 70% to 150% of the median were retained.

Each district has its own register name:

• Dubai Hills It is listed as two areas: Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid and DUBAI HILLS. Three projects beyond its boundary were excluded: Eden Hills (161 transactions), Keturah Reserve (6) and MAG EYE Phase 1 (3).
• Arabian Ranches It includes Arabian Ranches I, II, III and Polo Club.
• District One It is listed as MBR DISTRICT 1. Some of its projects also lie in Al Merkadh and Ghadeer Al tair, counted in a separate row.
• Al Barari and Jumeirah Golf Estates are listed under their own names.
• Emirates Hills It has no separate DLD area. It is a project within EMIRATE LIVING, which also includes Springs.
• Al Barsha South It comprises Al Barshaa South First, Second and Third.
• Jumeirah Village Circle It is listed as JUMEIRAH VILLAGE CIRCLE.

The article "Dubai Hills prices in 2026: apartments, townhouses and villas by actual transactions" breaks down transactions for each of the area's 1,641 buildings. Here, Dubai Hills has a different scope: only apartments and villas, under the rule applied to all neighbouring areas. That is why the figures in the two articles differ slightly.

How many sales take place in each district

Sales figures indicate how active the market is in each district. The count includes all sales over the nine-month period, including land, retail units and offices.

JVC had 7,787 sales in nine months, more than all other listed districts combined. Dubai Hills is second, well ahead of villa-focused neighbours. Al Barsha South had only 17 sales, so conclusions are difficult.

All 19 Emirates Hills sales are recorded in DLD as land with a commercial subtype. This article therefore has no apartment or villa prices for Emirates Hills.

Apartments: AED 997 to AED 2,566 per square foot

Apartments are sold in five of seven districts. Arabian Ranches and Emirates Hills had no apartment sales over nine months.

Only Al Barari apartments cost more per square foot than Dubai Hills, by about 8%. Their median transaction value is AED 1,500,000 higher.

JVC is about 39% cheaper per square foot than Dubai Hills. Its median transaction is AED 1,004,000, less than half Dubai Hills' median, but it has nearly five times more apartment sales.

Completed MBR District One apartments cost AED 1,869 per square foot, 22% below Dubai Hills' median. Jumeirah Golf Estates is 36% cheaper, but has only 42 transactions after filtering.

Al Barsha South has 6 transactions in the calculation. AED 997 per square foot is shown for completeness, but six records cannot support a comparison.

In Dubai Hills, the price per square foot rises with the number of bedrooms. This breakdown is based on the 18 October 2026 extract and includes the Flat and Residential Flats subtypes.

One- and two-bedroom apartments account for more than 80% of all apartment sales in the area. Studios and four-bedroom apartments sell in small numbers.

Villas: AED 3.4 million to AED 22.1 million per transaction

Villas sell across six areas. In Al Barari and the Emirates Hills development, there were no transactions with the Villa subtype over 9 months.

The table is sorted by median transaction value. Villa prices per square foot should be read with caution. DLD records do not say whether the stated area refers to the house or the plot. A villa on a large plot can look inexpensive per square foot on this basis. For villas, the transaction value is therefore the more reliable guide.

MBR District One stands apart. Its median transaction value is AED 22,100,000, four times that of Dubai Hills. There are only 15 transactions, though.

Arabian Ranches is not uniform. Its 3 parts differ noticeably:

• Arabian Ranches I: 78 transactions after filtering, AED 1,441 per sq ft, median transaction value AED 4,900,000.
• Arabian Ranches II: 21 transactions, AED 1,739 per sq ft, median transaction value AED 4,000,000.
• Arabian Ranches III: 72 transactions, AED 2,087 per sq ft, median transaction value AED 3,217,500.

The first part has the highest transaction value and the lowest price per square foot. This is where the caveat about area matters: DLD records cannot confirm whether the stated area is for the house or the plot.

Only some Dubai Hills homes were included in the villa calculation. Townhouses and villas in Sidra, Sidra 2, Sidra 3 and Golf Place are recorded by DLD as land with the Residential subtype, so they are not in the table. Maple, Maple 2, Maple III and Golf Grove are recorded with the Villa and Building subtypes. The median of AED 5,475,000 relates primarily to them.

Off-plan and ready homes: where buyers purchase during construction

In the snapshot, transactions are split between off-plan and ready homes. For apartments, the pattern varies noticeably between neighbouring areas.

In Dubai Hills, 58% of apartment transactions are off-plan. The difference in price per square foot between off-plan and ready homes is only AED 109, around 5%.

In JVC, the off-plan share is similar at 59%, but the gap is wider: off-plan homes cost AED 286 more per square foot than ready homes, around 22%. In Al Barari, the difference is greater still: new apartments cost AED 2,943 per sq ft, compared with AED 1,738 for ready homes.

In MBR District One, Jumeirah Golf Estates and Al Barsha South, all apartments sold are recorded as ready homes. Over 9 months, new apartments in District One sold only in the neighbouring areas of Al Merkadh and Ghadeer Al tair.

The picture is simpler for villas. Nearly all villa transactions across all areas are recorded as ready homes. There are 4 exceptions: 1 off-plan villa in Jumeirah Golf Estates at AED 5,120 per sq ft, and 3 in JVC at a median of AED 2,188 per sq ft. The snapshot contains no off-plan villas in Dubai Hills.

Rentals: what is known about Dubai Hills, and what is not known about its neighbours

Rental figures are based on new Ejari contracts in DLD's open data from January to July 2026. August and September are not included in the snapshot. The same calculation has not been made for neighbouring areas, so Dubai Hills rents cannot yet be compared with JVC or Arabian Ranches on the same data.

Over 7 months, 188,466 new tenancy contracts were signed in Dubai. Dubai Hills accounted for 2,346 of them. After excluding 32 contracts in MAG EYE, 2,314 remain in the calculation. The median contract term is 364 days, or 1 year.

The median size of a rented apartment is 73 sq m. Apartments up to 50 sq m rent for an average of AED 70,000 a year, those from 75 to 110 sq m for AED 135,000, and those from 160 sq m for AED 275,000. A 3-bedroom villa rents for AED 250,000, a 4-bedroom villa for AED 300,000, and a 5-bedroom villa for AED 620,000.

There is a wide spread within the area. Apartments in Collective rent for an average of AED 90,000, those in Park Ridge and Lime Gardens for AED 115,000, and those in Mulberry for AED 185,000. A 4-bedroom Maple villa rents for AED 260,000, while a 4-bedroom Sidra villa rents for AED 440,000.

Schools in neighbouring areas, according to the KHDA directory

No schools have been found within Dubai Hills beyond the 3 GEMS schools. The other schools listed in the KHDA directory are in neighbouring districts. A detailed look at each school is available in the article "Dubai Hills schools and nurseries: programmes, ratings and fees". Here, schools are grouped by KHDA district to show each neighbouring area's strengths.

Distances are measured as the crow flies from the centre of Dubai Hills Park. KHDA ratings are mostly for the 2023-2024 school year. Fees are annual and stated in dirhams, but the directory does not identify the school year they apply to. District names differ between the 2 directories. The school directory splits Al Barsha South into several parts, while the 3 GEMS schools in Dubai Hills are listed in Al Khail.

Dubai Hills' neighbour with the highest concentration of schools is Al Barsha Second: 8 schools, including 2 with the top Outstanding rating. Kings School Al Barsha is the closest at 1.2 km by KHDA coordinates and 2.6 km on OpenStreetMap. Bloom World Academy received a Good rating for 2024-2025. Its distance was not calculated because the directory coordinates are incorrect or missing.

Al Barsha South borders Dubai Hills to the west and south-west, but its school offering is weaker. Of the 6 schools across its 3 KHDA sections, Safa Community, 5.1 km away, is rated Outstanding, and Repton, 3.0 km away, is rated Very Good. 3 schools are rated Acceptable, and the French lycée has not yet been inspected.

Harrow International School Dubai opened on Hessa Street in Jumeirah Village Circle in the 2026/27 school year. It is not yet in the KHDA directory, so it has neither a rating nor an official fee.

Nurseries are also mostly in neighbouring areas. ALIF YA at 2.1 km and Dibber at 3.5 km operate in Al Barsha South First. Dovecote at 3.1 km and BLOSSOM BARSHA 2 at 3.3 km operate in Al Barsha Second. KHDA lists the Odyssey nursery in Al Barari.

Roads and everyday links between neighbouring areas

Dubai Hills borders 2 major roads: Al Khail Road (E44) and Umm Suqeim Road (D63). Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311) runs to the east, 5.15 km as the crow flies from the mall. Hessa Street (D61) lies 4.02 km to the north.

An 800 m tunnel on Umm Suqeim Street at Al Barsha South Street opened on 3 August 2025. It sits beside Kings' School and cut travel time along a 4.6 km section from 9.7 to 3.8 minutes.

Some everyday essentials for the area are also located in neighbouring districts:

• Mediclinic Parkview Hospital is in Al Barsha South 3, by the interchange of Umm Suqeim Road and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, near Dubai Miracle Garden.
• The nearest Waitrose to the area is in Al Barari. The chain's official list includes 15 stores, none of them in Dubai Hills.
• Vetcare Veterinary Centre operates in Arjan.

There is no metro in Dubai Hills. The nearest Red Line stations, Equiti and Mall of the Emirates, are 4.26 and 4.53 km away as the crow flies. The DH1 circular bus runs once an hour.

What is coming nearby: metro, cycle routes and a new district

The Gold Line metro was approved on 22 April 2026. It will be 42 km long, with 18 stations, running from Al Ghubaiba to Jumeirah Golf Estates. Interchanges will be at Business Bay, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Al Ghubaiba and Meydan. Opening is planned for 9 September 2032. This is important news for neighbouring areas: Jumeirah Golf Estates will gain a terminus with an interchange. A station in Dubai Hills itself has not been confirmed.

The Airport Express line is under study: from DXB airport via Al Jaddaf and along Al Khail Road to the Gold Line station in JVC, then onwards to DWC airport. The line remains at the study stage.

The second phase of Hessa Street will run from Al Khail Road to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road. It includes a 10.4 km cycle track from Dubai Hills to Motor City. Another 13.5 km walking and cycling route will link Al Sufouh and Dubai Hills.

A new district next to Dubai Hills Estate has been announced: Emaar Hills, also known as Dubai Mansions. Emaar announced it on 23 October 2025. The district will have 40,000 residences, AED 100 billion in investment, mansions from 10,000 to 20,000 sq ft, a golf course, parks and shops. No completion dates have been announced.

Things to keep in mind

Comparing neighbouring areas using a single snapshot is fairer than compiling figures from different sources. It also has its limitations.

1. Small samples. The calculation includes 6 apartments in Al Barsha South, 15 villas in MBR District One and 20 villas in Jumeirah Golf Estates. One expensive sale can shift the median significantly in an area like this.
2. Villa area. DLD records do not state whether the area refers to the house or the plot. Villa prices per square foot can only be compared between areas with this caveat in mind.
3. Some Dubai Hills homes are outside the villa calculation. Sidra and Golf Place are recorded as land, so the Dubai Hills villa median relates to Maple and Golf Grove.
4. Rentals for one area only. Ejari contracts were counted for January to July 2026 and only for Dubai Hills.
5. Difference between extracts. In the 18 October 2026 extract, the median apartment price per square foot in Dubai Hills is AED 2,377; in the 2 October snapshot, it is AED 2,383. The AED 6 difference does not affect the conclusions.
6. October is not included. The latest transactions in the snapshot are dated late September 2026.

Who it's for

Each area in the comparison has its own strengths.

Easy mistakes to avoid

There are 5 common mistakes when comparing areas.

1. Comparing villas by price per square foot alone. Arabian Ranches I has the lowest price per square foot and the highest transaction value among the community's 3 parts. Consider the transaction value and plot size together.
2. Looking for Emirates Hills as a district in the registry. DLD has no separate area for Emirates Hills: it is part of Emirates Living along with Springs. Emirates Hills itself is not included in the villa median, as all 19 of its sales are recorded as land.
3. Judging an area by 6 transactions. The AED 997 per sq ft median in Al Barsha South is based on 6 apartments. It is a weak guide.
4. Applying Dubai Hills rents to neighbouring areas. Returns for an apartment in JVC or a villa in Arabian Ranches have not been calculated from these data. A separate calculation based on Ejari contracts for each area is needed.
5. Expecting a metro station in Dubai Hills. The Gold Line will end at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and a station in Dubai Hills has not been confirmed. The line is planned to open in 2032.

At a glance

Which is cheaper: an apartment in Dubai Hills or JVC?

JVC is cheaper. Its median apartment price is AED 1,461 per square foot versus AED 2,383 in Dubai Hills, and the median transaction value is AED 1,004,000 versus AED 2,233,388. From January to September 2026, JVC had 6,972 apartment transactions and Dubai Hills had 1,478.

Where are apartments more expensive than in Dubai Hills?

Of the neighbouring districts, only Al Barari is more expensive: AED 2,566 per square foot and a median transaction value of AED 3,760,000. Apartments under construction cost AED 2,943 per square foot, while completed apartments cost AED 1,738.

How much does a villa cost in Arabian Ranches compared with Dubai Hills?

The median villa transaction value is AED 4,000,000 in Arabian Ranches and AED 5,475,000 in Dubai Hills. Arabian Ranches has 171 villa transactions, versus 86 in Dubai Hills. Within the community, the median ranges from AED 3,217,500 in Arabian Ranches III to AED 4,900,000 in Arabian Ranches I.

Is there rental data for neighbouring districts?

This calculation covers rent only in Dubai Hills: median annual rent of AED 115,000 for an apartment and AED 290,000 for a villa, based on new Ejari contracts from January to July 2026. The same calculation was not made for JVC, Arabian Ranches or other neighbours.

Which neighbouring district has the most good schools?

Al Barsha Second. It has eight schools listed in the KHDA directory, two of which are rated Outstanding: Kings School Al Barsha and Nord Anglia. Kings School is 1.2 to 2.6 km from the centre of Dubai Hills Park.

Will there be a metro line near Dubai Hills?

The 18-station Gold Line will run from Al Ghubaiba to Jumeirah Golf Estates and is scheduled to open on 9 September 2032. A station in Dubai Hills itself has not been confirmed. Another line, Airport Express, with a station in JVC, is still only under study.

Find a home in Dubai Hills

From January to September 2026, Dubai Hills recorded 1,801 sales, second only to Jumeirah Village Circle. Apartments here are cheaper than in Al Barari and more expensive than in all the other neighbouring areas. By transaction value, villas are second only to MBR District One.