Area guide
Al Satwa
Jumeirah Garden City and the old quarter · Dubai
- AED 2,258
- Median per sq ft, 3 months
- 1,505
- Registered sales, 12 months
- 28
- Off-plan projects
- AED 859K
- Priced from
Al Satwa is one of old Dubai's surviving low-rise quarters, wedged between Sheikh Zayed Road, the Jumeirah villa streets and the Trade Centre district. It is a dense grid of two and three-storey buildings, tailoring shops, cafeterias and fabric traders, and it has the street life that most of the newer city was built without.
Property here is a mixture: older residential blocks and villas on Emirati-owned land, a stock of small apartment buildings let to residents on modest incomes, and the Jumeirah Garden City redevelopment zone, where taller residential buildings have gone up along the wider roads.
It suits an investor who understands the land-status rules and is buying into a central location with redevelopment potential, or a resident who wants to be walking distance from the Trade Centre district at a rent the surrounding areas do not offer. It suits nobody who wants a new building, a pool, a concierge or a guaranteed freehold title.
What Al Satwa sells for
Al Satwa sells at AED 2,258 per square foot, the median of registered sales, Dubai Land Department, as of 2 September 2026, 217 sales in the last three months, on a median price of AED 1.39M. That is 2.5 percent below the three months before them. The register holds 1,505 sales here in the last twelve months and 2,794 over three years, across 41 buildings with a page of their own. One-bedroom units are the commonest, at 677 of the 1,505 sales registered in the last twelve months.
AED 2,258per sqft
Median registered sale price in Al Satwa over the last three months, the 22nd most expensive of the 73 Dubai communities the sold register covers. Measured across 1,505 sales the Dubai Land Department recorded in the last twelve months, down 2.5% on the previous quarter. Transactions, not asking prices, as of 2 September 2026. Sold prices in Al Satwa, building by building.
| Busiest buildings | Sales, 12 months | Median per sq ft, 3 months | Last sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linea by Holm | 192 | AED 2,626 | 19 August 2026 |
| Holm One | 178 | AED 2,239 | 6 August 2026 |
| EVERGRIN House 2 | 159 | AED 2,519 | 22 July 2026 |
| Enso Jade | 105 | n/a | 30 April 2026 |
| Villea West | 78 | AED 2,394 | 29 July 2026 |
| Rabdan Gardens | 77 | AED 2,178 | 25 August 2026 |
New developments in Al Satwa
28 off-plan projects from 23 developers, priced from AED 859K with a median entry price of AED 1.29M, handing over 2025 to 2028. 2 complete, 26 under construction.
Living in Al Satwa
Satwa is the closest thing central Dubai has to a walkable old neighbourhood. Everything is on the street: tailors, barbers, grocers, cafeterias and some of the best cheap food in the city, all within a few blocks. That comes with the corresponding realities of dense, older housing: narrow streets, limited and contested parking, noise, and buildings maintained to a landlord's standard rather than an owners association's.
Location is the compensation. You are minutes from DIFC, the World Trade Centre and Downtown, with two Red Line stations on the Sheikh Zayed Road edge and Jumeirah beach a short drive the other way. The Jumeirah Garden City plan has been redrawing parts of the district for years and continues to do so, so some streets are being rebuilt while others are untouched.
Schools
- Nurseries and small private schools within the district
- Schools in Jumeirah and Al Safa (nearby, a short drive)
- No large international school inside Al Satwa
Getting around
- Al Jafiliya Metro station on the Red Line (nearby, on Sheikh Zayed Road)
- World Trade Centre Metro station on the Red Line (nearby)
- Sheikh Zayed Road on the district's inland edge
- Al Wasl Road and 2nd December Street through the district
Shopping and dining
- Tailors, fabric shops and traders on the Satwa streets
- Local supermarkets and cafeterias throughout the district
- City Walk (nearby, in Al Wasl)
- The Dubai Mall (nearby, in Downtown Dubai)
Leisure
- Za'abeel Park (nearby)
- Jumeirah public beaches (nearby, a short drive)
- The street food and cafeteria culture of the district itself
- Dubai World Trade Centre events (nearby)
Who buys in Al Satwa
This is not a mainstream international buyer's market. Land in much of Al Satwa is held by Emirati families and is not open to foreign freehold ownership, so the buyers who transact here are largely UAE and GCC nationals, local family offices, and developers assembling plots inside the designated redevelopment areas. Foreign capital enters mainly through specific projects in Jumeirah Garden City that were released on a freehold basis.
For those who can buy, the case is location and land rather than the building on it. The register here is dominated by the new apartment blocks in Jumeirah Garden City, which transfer often and set the medians on this page; the older low-rise plots behind them change hands rarely, between a small number of informed parties, and are priced on the plot rather than on those medians.
Al Satwa: common questions
What is the price per square foot in Al Satwa?+
Al Satwa sells at AED 2,258 per square foot, the median of registered sales, Dubai Land Department, as of 2 September 2026, 217 sales in the last three months, on a median price of AED 1.39M. That is 2.5 percent below the three months before them. The register holds 1,505 sales here in the last twelve months and 2,794 over three years, across 41 buildings with a page of their own. One-bedroom units are the commonest, at 677 of the 1,505 sales registered in the last twelve months.
What does a typical unit in Al Satwa sell for?+
The median registered price over the last three complete months is AED 1.39M, across 2,794 registered sales in three years. The register is as of 2 September 2026.
How many off-plan projects are there in Al Satwa?+
28 off-plan projects from 23 developers are catalogued in Al Satwa, priced from AED 859K, with handovers from 2025 to 2028. 2 are complete and 26 are under construction.
Can a foreign national buy property in Al Satwa?+
Only in parts of it. Much of Al Satwa is not a designated freehold area, so foreign nationals cannot own the land, and ownership there is limited to UAE and GCC nationals. Certain projects and plots, particularly within the Jumeirah Garden City redevelopment zone, have been released on a freehold basis. Never assume: check the specific plot's status with the Dubai Land Department before you spend anything.
What is the trade-off of buying in an old quarter like this?+
You buy a genuinely central, walkable location with real street life and a redevelopment story, and you accept older buildings, parking pressure, noise and a title position that has to be checked plot by plot. There is no resort amenity, no concierge and no glossy community management. It is an investment in ground rather than in a finished product.
Is Al Satwa going to be redeveloped?+
Parts of it already have been. The Jumeirah Garden City plan has reshaped several blocks along the wider roads with taller residential buildings, and further plots continue to change hands for development. How far and how fast it goes is a matter for the authorities and the landowners, so treat redevelopment as an upside rather than as something you can rely on to a timetable.
Nearby guides
Buying or selling in Al Satwa?
Tell us the size and the budget and we will come back with what is actually available, on and off market, priced against the register above. Or call +971 58 525 7777.