Flats in the corresponding DLD community sold well above the Dubai median, and the anchor is open. Compare recent sales of the same layout before paying for the name.
How to read these figures. Sales are for the corresponding Dubai Land Department community, which is used here as a proxy for the named master plan. The boundaries may not match exactly. Flat prices mix buildings, ages and off-plan with completed homes. A price difference is not evidence that the master plan or its anchor caused it.
Prices and sales: BUY DUBAI facts cube from Dubai Land Department registrations (registration basis, every sale procedure), 12 months to 28 October 2026. Flat price per sq ft is a median; the Dubai median uses the same filters. Cube c2c1f2e1bffc.
The Business Bay master plan
Dubai Properties set up Business Bay in 2003 and sold its first phase of plots to other developers for Dh4bn.
After the 2008 crash, about 80% of the completed office space stood empty in 2011, beside half-built towers and bare plots.
Plots are still traded: a canal-front plot set a Dh362m record in October 2025, and one developer resold its plot for Dh365m in 2023 instead of building.
Anchor: Downtown Dubai next door, the canal and the metro. Opened: Business Bay metro station 15 October 2010.
Sources: Gulf Construction Online, Business Bay Phase One generates $1bn; The National, Search on to fill Business Bay, May 2011; Gulfbase, record Dh362m canal-front land sale, Oct 2025; Gulf News, MAG sells Business Bay plot for Dh365m, Dec 2023.
Prices compared year by year
Flats in the corresponding Land Department community sold at 52% above the Dubai median in 2015 and 45% above in 2025. The chart shows each year as a multiple of the Dubai median (1.0x); the mix of homes sold can also change the median.
Years with fewer than 30 flat sales are left out. Medians move when the mix of homes sold changes.
What to check before you buy
In a plot-sold district each tower is a separate developer's project; the tower's own sales record matters more than the district average.
- Who built the tower: the master developer, or another developer on a plot?
- Is the anchor open, and if not, who delivers it and by when?
- What did the same layout in the same building sell for in the last six months?
More on BUY DUBAI
Questions about Business Bay
Who is the master developer of Business Bay?
Dubai Properties. It sold most of the land as plots to other developers.
What is the anchor of Business Bay?
Downtown Dubai next door, the canal and the metro. Business Bay metro station 15 October 2010.
Do homes in Business Bay sell above the Dubai average?
Flats in the corresponding Land Department community sold 41% above the Dubai median price per sq ft in the 12 months to 28 October 2026. The community boundary may differ from the master plan.