Dubai Marina rent by size: what a square metre costs
The question that decides a Marina lease is rarely "what does the district cost". It is "what does the next room cost, and what do I get for it". This page lays the five size classes side by side and converts every one of them into a price per square metre, so the classes can actually be compared. The base is 1,888 registered new tenancy contracts in the Ejari register of the Dubai Land Department, as of September 2026, filed under the cadastral name Marsa Dubai.
The five size classes side by side
| Class | Floor area in square metres | Median area | Contracts | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | Median over twelve months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | up to 57 | 37 | 172 | AED 4,416 | AED 5,000 | AED 5,833 | AED 60,000 |
| 1 bedroom | 58 to 95 | 75 | 755 | AED 6,000 | AED 7,083 | AED 9,142 | AED 84,996 |
| 2 bedrooms | 96 to 146 | 120 | 590 | AED 8,333 | AED 10,416 | AED 13,750 | AED 124,992 |
| 3 bedrooms | 147 to 260 | 172 | 316 | AED 12,500 | AED 15,000 | AED 22,500 | AED 180,000 |
| 4 bedrooms | 261 and above | no median | 55 | AED 17,500 | AED 21,666 | AED 27,500 | AED 259,992 |
The area column is not decoration. In the tenancy register the bedroom field is empty in most records, so the class is derived from floor area, with the boundaries shown. The median area column comes from two independent readings: our own listing sample, where bedrooms and area appear together, and the sale register, where the unit type is recorded. For every class the two disagree by less than five square metres.
Contract counts matter as much as the rents. The one- and two-bedroom rows rest on 755 and 590 contracts and are solid. The four-bedroom row rests on 55 contracts, which is an order of magnitude, not a negotiating anchor.
What the next room costs
| Step | Extra floor area in square metres | Extra rent per month | Extra rent per year | Cost of each added square metre per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio to 1 bedroom | 38 | AED 2,083 | AED 24,996 | AED 55 |
| 1 to 2 bedrooms | 45 | AED 3,333 | AED 39,996 | AED 74 |
| 2 to 3 bedrooms | 52 | AED 4,584 | AED 55,008 | AED 88 |
This is the table people actually need. Moving from a studio to a one-bedroom adds about 38 square metres for AED 2,083 a month, which is AED 24,996 a year. The step from one to two bedrooms adds 45 square metres for AED 3,333 a month, and from two to three bedrooms 52 square metres for AED 4,584.
The last column is where it gets interesting: each added square metre costs AED 55 a month on the first step, AED 74 on the second and AED 88 on the third. Space gets more expensive the more of it you buy, which is the opposite of what most tenants assume. The cheapest upgrade in Dubai Marina is the first one.
Rent per square metre: the studio pays the premium
| Class | Contracts | Median rent per month | Median area, listing sample | Rent per square metre | Median area, sale register | Rent per square metre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 172 | AED 5,000 | 37 | AED 135 | 42 | AED 119 |
| 1 bedroom | 755 | AED 7,083 | 75 | AED 94 | 74 | AED 96 |
| 2 bedrooms | 590 | AED 10,416 | 120 | AED 87 | 117 | AED 89 |
| 3 bedrooms | 316 | AED 15,000 | 172 | AED 87 | 177 | AED 85 |
Divide the median contract rent by the median floor area and the studio comes out at about AED 135 per square metre per month, against AED 94 for a one-bedroom and AED 87 for a two-bedroom. On the sale-register areas the studio reads AED 119 and the larger classes barely move. Whichever anchor you take, the smallest unit carries the dearest square metre, because a kitchen and a bathroom cost the same whether they sit in 37 square metres or 172.
From the one-bedroom class upwards the curve flattens out. One, two and three bedrooms all land within a few dirhams of each other per square metre. In practice that means the size decision is a budget decision, not an efficiency decision: above the studio you are not paying a penalty for space, you are simply paying for more of it.
What the same square metre costs to buy
| Class | Sale contracts | Median price | Price per square metre | Rent per square metre per month | Months of rent per square metre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | 545 | AED 1,150,000 | AED 16,355 | AED 94 | 174 |
| 2 bedrooms | 421 | AED 2,000,000 | AED 15,699 | AED 87 | 180 |
| 3 bedrooms | 158 | AED 3,203,170 | AED 14,911 | AED 87 | 171 |
The sale register prices the same space directly. In existing stock a Marina square metre changes hands at AED 16,355 in the one-bedroom class, from 545 registered sale contracts, and at AED 15,699 in the two-bedroom class from 421. Set that against the monthly rent per square metre and one square metre of freehold costs roughly the number of months in the last column - about fourteen to fifteen years of rent for the same space.
New-build contracts sit far above that: AED 24,078 per square metre in the one-bedroom class, from only 14 registered contracts. Rents do not follow that premium, which is why the buy-side square metre and the rent-side square metre have to be read as two separate markets.
Frequently asked questions
Which size gives the most space for the money in Dubai Marina?
Per square metre, everything above the studio. A studio runs about AED 135 per square metre per month, a one-bedroom AED 94 and a two-bedroom AED 87. The step out of the studio is the one that pays.
How much more is a two-bedroom than a one-bedroom?
AED 3,333 a month at the median, AED 39,996 over a year, for about 45 extra square metres. The medians behind it are AED 7,083 from 755 contracts and AED 10,416 from 590 contracts.
How reliable is the floor-area classification?
The boundaries were calibrated on 2,177 of our own listings that state bedrooms and area together, then checked against the sale register. The classes do overlap in reality: ten to 90 percent of two-bedroom flats measure between 92 and 149 square metres, so a large one-bedroom can land in the two-bedroom row.
Is the four-bedroom row usable?
Only as an order of magnitude. It rests on 55 registered contracts, against 755 for the one-bedroom class, and the sale register carries no median floor area for it, so we publish no price per square metre there.
Source: Dubai Land Department, Ejari tenancy contract register, as of September 2026, and the Dubai Land Department sale contract register for the purchase figures. The numbers are reproduced with attribution and are not a DXB Radar survey. Asking rents: our own reading of listings on propertyfinder.ae, September 2026. New readings from both registers go out on our Telegram channel: https://t.me/dxbradar.