The median is AED 17.05 — but almost nobody pays the median
Across 1,532 residential buildings the median approved rate is AED 17.05 per square foot. Half of all buildings charge less, half charge more. The middle 80% sit between AED 5.87 and AED 26.41, which already tells you the figure quoted in most listings is close to meaningless as a planning number.
Work it in money rather than rates. On a 900 sqft one-bedroom:
At the median AED 17.05 — AED 15,350 a year.
At the 10th percentile AED 5.87 — AED 5,284 a year.
At the 90th percentile AED 26.41 — AED 23,769 a year.
That is a difference of AED 18,485 a year between an unremarkable cheap building and an unremarkable expensive one. Over a five-year hold it is AED 92,426. It is the single largest controllable cost in an off-plan purchase, and it is decided before you buy.
Median AED 17.05 per sqft. The middle 80% runs AED 5.87 to AED 26.41 — a AED 18,485 a year difference on a 900 sqft flat.
Service charges by community: dearest to cheapest
Community medians, for the 24 communities with at least 15 residential buildings on the register. The annual figure is for a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Burj Khalifa District — AED 28.67 per sqft, about AED 25,803 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Palm Jumeirah — AED 26.82 per sqft, about AED 24,134 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Meydan — AED 25.46 per sqft, about AED 22,914 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
DownTown Dubai — AED 22.38 per sqft, about AED 20,142 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai Creek Harbour — AED 21.13 per sqft, about AED 19,017 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Business Bay — AED 20.05 per sqft, about AED 18,050 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai Production City — AED 19.08 per sqft, about AED 17,172 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai Hills Estate — AED 18.94 per sqft, about AED 17,042 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai Marina — AED 18.83 per sqft, about AED 16,947 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
The Greens — AED 18.21 per sqft, about AED 16,394 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai South — AED 17.63 per sqft, about AED 15,871 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Jumeirah Village Circle — AED 17.14 per sqft, about AED 15,430 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
DMCC Master Community — AED 16.89 per sqft, about AED 15,201 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Motor City — AED 16.43 per sqft, about AED 14,787 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai Sports City — AED 15.93 per sqft, about AED 14,337 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Al Furjan — AED 15.92 per sqft, about AED 14,328 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Discovery Gardens — AED 15.90 per sqft, about AED 14,310 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Arjan — AED 15.57 per sqft, about AED 14,013 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai Investment Park — AED 14.62 per sqft, about AED 13,158 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Jumeirah Village — AED 14.39 per sqft, about AED 12,951 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Silicon Oasis — AED 14.06 per sqft, about AED 12,654 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
International City — AED 13.49 per sqft, about AED 12,141 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Dubai Land — AED 13.16 per sqft, about AED 11,844 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
Damac Hills — AED 4.00 per sqft, about AED 3,600 a year on a 900 sqft one-bedroom.
The pattern is not a surprise in direction, only in size. Prime waterfront and branded districts carry chilled water, concierge, extensive common areas and high insurance. Burj Khalifa District at AED 28.67 costs 7.2 times what Damac Hills costs at AED 4.00 — AED 25,803 a year against AED 3,600 on the same 900 sqft flat.
What that does to yield: on a one-bedroom bought at AED 1,000,000 and let at AED 70,000, the service charge alone moves the net yield from 6.64% at the cheapest community median to 4.42% at the dearest, before a single other cost.
Burj Khalifa District is dearest at AED 28.67 per sqft. Damac Hills is cheapest at AED 4.00. Same flat, AED 22,203 a year apart.
The gap inside one community is bigger than the gap between communities
This is the finding that should change how you shop. Choosing the right community saves you 7x. Choosing the right building inside one community saves you up to 38x.
In Jumeirah Village Circle, across 138 buildings on the register, the cheapest approved rate is AED 1.61 at Casa Luxo and the dearest is AED 61.16 at Five At Jumeirah Village Circle Dubai - Hotel Room. On a 900 sqft one-bedroom that is AED 1,449 a year against AED 55,044 — in the same community, often on the same road.
Business Bay runs AED 4.94 at Damac Towers By Paramount to AED 55.43 at Dorchester Collection Dubai across 78 buildings: AED 4,446 against AED 49,887 a year.
Some of that spread is real service — the dearest entries are usually hotel-branded or serviced residences where the charge buys staffing a normal tower does not have. But much of it is not, and the register will not tell you which is which. What it tells you is the number, before you commit, while you can still walk away.
JVC: AED 1.61 to AED 61.16 per sqft across 138 buildings. Same community, 38x apart.
What the service charge actually pays for
The approved rate is built from budget lines the owners association files with RERA: general maintenance, cleaning, security, insurance, management fees, utilities for common areas, lift and pump servicing, and — usually the largest single item in a tower — chilled water for air conditioning. A reserve fund contribution sits on top, saved for major works like facade and lift replacement.
Two features drive most of the variation. District cooling is the first: a building on district cooling carries a capacity charge whether or not you run the air conditioning. The second is amenity load — pools, gyms, padel courts, landscaped podiums and concierge desks are all staffed and maintained out of the same bill. An amenity-heavy tower is a permanently more expensive tower to own.
The reserve fund deserves particular attention, because an association that underfunds it is not cheap, only deferred. When the lifts need replacing the money is collected anyway, as a special levy, usually at the worst possible time.
A low service charge with no reserve fund is not a saving. It is a bill you have not been sent yet.
How to use this before you buy
Ask for the building by name, not the community. A developer quoting "service charges in the area are around AED 15" is quoting something that cannot be held to, and the register shows why: the area figure is an average of buildings that differ several-fold.
For an off-plan purchase there is usually no approved rate yet, because the owners association does not exist until handover. In that case the honest comparison is the developer's other completed buildings in the same community — those rates are on the register and they are the best available evidence of what this one will charge.
Put the number into the yield before you sign, not after. On a AED 1,000,000 one-bedroom let at AED 70,000, a median service charge takes the gross 7.0% down to 5.47% net of service charge alone. At a dear building it goes to 1.50%.
Look up the building by name. An area average hides a 38x spread.