DAMAC Dubai Islands 2026: Price per Square Foot, Project Names & Payment Plans
REC Lifestyle Specialist
- Two different "Islands." DAMAC Islands is a villa-and-townhouse master community in Dubailand. It is NOT Nakheel's Dubai Islands (the old Deira Islands on the coast). Buyers searching "DAMAC Dubai Islands" almost always mean the DAMAC Dubailand project — this guide covers it and flags the difference everywhere it matters.
- Entry pricing. Phase-1 four-bedroom townhouses launched from roughly AED 2M (Nov 2024); DAMAC Islands 2 launched from about AED 2.75M. Six-bedroom villas launched from around AED 6M.
- Price per square foot. Resale and launch data put DAMAC Islands roughly in the AED 1,000–2,000/sqft band depending on unit and phase — meaningfully cheaper per foot than Nakheel's Dubai Islands apartments (~AED 2,527/sqft).
- Six named clusters: Maldives, Bora Bora, Seychelles, Hawaii, Bali and Fiji — each a tropical-island theme, not a separate developer.
- Payment plan. The headline structure is 75/25 (75% during construction, 25% on handover), typically with a ~10–20% booking down payment plus the 4% DLD fee.
- Handover. Phase-1 villas/townhouses target around Q4 2028 — a long off-plan runway you must price into any yield math.
- Demand context. DAMAC sold ~3,100 units (~AED 10B) at Islands by Dec 2024 and led the developer table with Dh3.12B in March 2026 sales — strong, but launch hype is not the same as guaranteed resale appreciation.
- This piece is the granular price-per-sqft companion to our DAMAC Islands master-plan overview. Read that for the big-picture community and risk view.
Last updated: June 2026
"DAMAC Dubai Islands" is one of the most-searched and most-misunderstood phrases in the 2026 Dubai off-plan market. It blends two things that are not the same: DAMAC Islands, a 30-million-sq-ft villa-and-townhouse community in Dubailand by DAMAC Properties, and Dubai Islands, Nakheel's five-island coastal redevelopment of the former Deira Islands. They are different developers, different locations, different unit types and very different price-per-square-foot profiles. This article is built around the granular numbers — price per square foot by unit type, the six named clusters and their entry points, the live payment plan, and a like-for-like comparison against the nearby Nakheel stock — so you can buy on data rather than on a brochure render.
If you want the wide-angle community walkthrough — master plan, amenities, lifestyle and the developer-risk discussion — read our DAMAC Islands master-plan guide first. This piece deliberately does not repeat that. It goes straight to the per-foot maths.
DAMAC Islands vs Dubai Islands: clearing up the name collision first
Before any price makes sense, you have to know which "Islands" you are pricing. The two are routinely confused in search and in agent listings, and the confusion materially changes the per-sqft number you should expect.
DAMAC Islands sits inland in Dubailand. It is a master community of roughly 14,896 villas and townhouses arranged into six tropical-island-themed clusters, with man-made lagoons, beaches and resort amenities rather than real ocean frontage. Dubai Islands (formerly Deira Islands) is a Nakheel coastal project spanning five islands — Central, Marina, Shore, Golf and Elite — adding around 40km of coastline and over 20km of beaches, including Blue Flag-certified shores, per Nakheel's Dubai Islands development page.
| Attribute | DAMAC Islands | Dubai Islands (Nakheel) |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | DAMAC Properties | Nakheel |
| Location | Dubailand (inland) | Coastal (former Deira Islands) |
| Core product | 4–7 bed townhouses & villas | Apartments + Bay Villas/townhouses |
| Water | Man-made lagoons & beaches | Real sea frontage & beaches |
| Indicative price/sqft | ~AED 1,000–2,000 | ~AED 1,173–2,527 |
The practical takeaway: a "DAMAC Dubai Islands" search that lands on a AED 2,500/sqft sea-view apartment is showing you Nakheel stock, not DAMAC. The DAMAC product is bigger floor area, lower per-foot, no real beach. Get that straight and the rest of the maths follows.
The six named clusters — what each one actually is
DAMAC Islands is not a single tower or a single price. It is six themed clusters, and the cluster you buy in drives both your unit mix and your entry price. The names are Maldives, Bora Bora, Seychelles, Hawaii, Bali and Fiji, confirmed on DAMAC's own clusters page. They are marketing themes, not separate developers or separate freehold regimes — the same DLD process, escrow and Oqood registration apply across all six.
Each cluster carries a distinct positioning, but the underlying products are consistent: four- and five-bedroom townhouses at the entry end, six- and seven-bedroom signature villas at the top. Here is the schematic positioning:
| Cluster | Positioning | Typical product |
|---|---|---|
| Maldives | Shoreline / "sea-facing" lagoon access | Premium villas |
| Bora Bora | Privacy-led waterfront villas | Exclusive villas |
| Seychelles | Calm-water, coastal-tranquillity theme | Townhouses & villas |
| Hawaii | Family-focused beachfront, green landscaping | Townhouses & villas |
| Bali | Resort-inspired, tropical outdoor living | Villas |
| Fiji | Community-oriented, leisure facilities | Townhouses & villas |
For investors, the cluster matters mainly for two things: entry price (Seychelles and Hawaii townhouses tend to anchor the affordable end, from roughly AED 2.75M at later-phase pricing) and exit liquidity (the more generic "family townhouse" clusters typically resell faster than the ultra-premium signature villas). If your strategy is rental yield rather than trophy ownership, the four- and five-bed townhouse clusters are usually the better per-foot value — a point we expand on in our villa vs apartment investment comparison.
One nuance buyers miss: the cluster name is a brand, not a guarantee of waterfront. Within any given cluster, only a fraction of plots front the lagoon directly — interior, mid-row and corner plots carry different price-per-foot levels and very different resale narratives. A "Maldives" or "Bora Bora" address on a non-waterfront interior plot will not command the premium the brochure implies. Before you compare two units on price alone, confirm each one's exact plot position, lagoon proximity and orientation, because two units in the same cluster at the same headline price can have meaningfully different per-foot value and exit liquidity.
Price per square foot by unit type — the numbers that actually matter
Headline "from AED 2M" prices are useless without the floor area behind them. Price per square foot is the only way to compare a 2,200-sqft townhouse against a 4,400-sqft villa or against a Dubai Marina apartment. Here is what the 2026 data shows for DAMAC Islands, drawing on launch pricing and on live secondary-market listings.
At launch (November 2024), four-bedroom townhouses started from around AED 2M and six-bedroom villas from around AED 6M, per market trackers including PropSearch's DAMAC Islands data. On the secondary market in 2026, that same source records a realised price band of roughly AED 1.21M to AED 8.96M and a price-per-sqft range of about AED 1,454 to AED 1,963. Bayut listings for DAMAC Islands villas in mid-2026 show individual units calculating out anywhere from roughly AED 982 to AED 1,379 per sqft depending on size, plot and cluster, per Bayut's DAMAC Islands listings.
| Unit type | Indicative size (sqft) | Indicative entry price (AED) | Approx. price/sqft (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-bed townhouse | ~2,200 | ~2.0–2.75M | ~980–1,250 |
| 5-bed townhouse | ~3,100–3,200 | ~3.1–3.5M | ~1,000–1,150 |
| 6-bed villa | ~4,400+ | ~6.0M+ | ~1,350–1,500 |
| 7-bed signature villa | Largest | ~13.95M+ | Premium (waterfront-led) |
Sizes and prices are indicative launch/secondary figures and vary by cluster, plot and phase; confirm exact areas on the official price list and your individual SPA before relying on any per-sqft number.
The pattern is consistent: townhouses are the per-foot value (sub-AED 1,250/sqft is achievable), while the headline villa price climbs because you are buying far more floor area, not necessarily a higher rate per foot. To turn any of these into a rental-yield number, plug the all-in cost into our ROI calculator and pressure-test the rent assumption against a comparable handed-over Dubailand community rather than the brochure projection.
The payment plan, decoded
The current DAMAC Islands payment structure is a 75/25 plan: 75% paid in instalments through the construction period and 25% due on handover, typically opened with a booking down payment in the ~10–20% range plus the 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee. DAMAC Islands 2 launched on an expression-of-interest basis where EOI customers could initiate booking with about 10% of the price plus 4% DLD.
A 75/25 plan is more front-loaded than the aggressive 60/40 and post-handover plans some Dubai developers run. That matters: you are committing three-quarters of the capital before you hold the keys, against a roughly Q4 2028 handover for phase-1 villas/townhouses. If you are comparing this against other developers, read our breakdown of Dubai developer payment plans (60/40, post-handover and more) so you know exactly how front-loaded this structure is relative to the alternatives.
| Milestone | Indicative share | On a AED 2.75M townhouse |
|---|---|---|
| Booking / down payment | ~10–20% | ~AED 275K–550K |
| DLD transfer fee | 4% | ~AED 110K |
| Construction instalments | Balance to 75% | ~AED 1.5M+ over the build |
| On handover | 25% | ~AED 687.5K |
The 4% DLD fee is a fixed government charge, not a developer add-on — confirm any fee you are quoted against the official Dubai Land Department schedule. Your off-plan instalments sit inside a project escrow account, which is the core protection that stops your money being spent on anything but this build; we explain how that works in our guide to the Dubai escrow account.
How DAMAC Islands prices compare to nearby waterfront stock
The cleanest way to judge whether DAMAC Islands is "cheap" or "expensive" is to put it next to the genuine waterfront alternative buyers confuse it with — Nakheel's Dubai Islands — and against the broader off-plan field. On a pure price-per-square-foot basis, DAMAC Islands is the cheaper product, because you are buying inland lagoon living rather than real sea frontage.
Nakheel's Dubai Islands apartments average roughly AED 2,527/sqft with apartment prices running from about AED 1.3M to AED 31M across one- to four-bed units, per Property Finder market data summarised on the Property Finder Dubai Islands listings. Nakheel's Bay Villas at Dubai Islands start around AED 4M for a three-bed townhouse on an 80/20 plan with a Q2 2027 handover, with larger waterfront villas calculating out toward AED 2,200/sqft.
| Project | Entry price | Approx. price/sqft | Plan / handover |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAMAC Islands (townhouses) | ~AED 2.0–2.75M | ~AED 980–1,450 | 75/25 · ~Q4 2028 |
| DAMAC Islands (villas) | ~AED 6M+ | ~AED 1,350–1,963 | 75/25 · ~Q4 2028 |
| Dubai Islands — Bay Villas (Nakheel) | ~AED 4M | ~AED 1,173–2,213 | 80/20 · Q2 2027 |
| Dubai Islands — apartments (Nakheel) | ~AED 1.3M | ~AED 2,527 avg | Varies |
The read-across: DAMAC Islands gives you the lowest per-foot rate and the most floor area, but it is inland and has the longest off-plan runway. Nakheel's Dubai Islands costs more per foot but delivers real coastline and hands over sooner. Neither is "better" in the abstract — it depends whether you are buying floor area and a lower entry ticket, or genuine sea frontage and earlier rental income. For a wider yield-ranked view of where Dubailand and waterfront communities sit, see our highest-ROI areas in Dubai 2026 analysis.
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Demand, sell-out speed and what it means for resale
DAMAC Islands launched into genuine demand. By December 2024 DAMAC reported roughly 3,100 units sold at the community, worth about AED 10 billion, across an estimated 14,896-unit master plan. At a developer level, DAMAC led Dubai's March 2026 sales table with Dh3.12 billion across 1,106 deals and sold 3,663 units in Q1 2026, per Gulf News. DAMAC Islands and its second phase feature prominently in that demand story.
Fast launch sell-outs are a double-edged signal. On the upside, they show appetite and can support early-phase price appreciation as later releases come out at higher rates. On the downside, a project that sells out in hours attracts flippers, and a wave of simultaneous handovers around 2028 can put short-term pressure on resale and rental pricing if too many owners exit at once. This is the same oversupply-timing risk we map across the city in our analysis of the 2026–2027 delivery wave and oversupply risk. Buy the unit, not the launch-day adrenaline.
One practical implication: if your thesis is short-term capital gain on assignment before handover, the four- and five-bed townhouse clusters with the deepest buyer pool (Seychelles, Hawaii, Fiji) tend to be more liquid than the ultra-premium signature villas. If your thesis is long-term rental hold, the per-foot value of the townhouses plus Dubailand's family-tenant demand is the stronger play.
Worked example: a townhouse investor's all-in cost
- Purchase price: AED 2,750,000 (~2,200 sqft → ~AED 1,250/sqft).
- DLD transfer fee (4%): AED 110,000.
- DLD admin + Oqood/registration + trustee: budget ~AED 5,000–8,000.
- Booking down payment (20%): AED 550,000.
- Construction instalments to 75%: ~AED 1,512,500 spread to handover.
- Handover instalment (25%): AED 687,500 (~Q4 2028).
- Cash-in before keys (down payment + DLD + early instalments): comfortably AED 700K+ in year one.
The lesson from Case A is that the "from AED 2.75M" headline understates your real near-term cash commitment once the 4% DLD fee and front-loaded 75% schedule are added. A 75/25 plan is not a low-deposit plan. Model the cash-flow timeline, not just the sticker price.
- DAMAC Islands 6-bed villa: ~AED 6,000,000 for ~4,440 sqft → ~AED 1,351/sqft, inland lagoon, ~Q4 2028.
- Nakheel Dubai Islands waterfront villa: a 5-bed at ~AED 13.8M / ~6,694 sqft → ~AED 2,062/sqft, real sea frontage, Q2 2027.
- Per-foot gap: roughly AED 700/sqft — that premium buys genuine coastline and an earlier handover, not more internal space.
- Decision: if floor area and entry ticket dominate your brief, DAMAC; if waterfront resale-story and earlier income dominate, Nakheel.
Both cases show the same core truth: DAMAC Islands wins on price per square foot and entry ticket; it loses on water authenticity and handover timing. Decide which axis your investment thesis actually rewards before you sign. For the wider buy-now-versus-wait question on off-plan timing, our off-plan vs ready property comparison is the companion read.
Financing, Golden Visa and the rental-yield reality
Most buyers at DAMAC Islands pay cash or near-cash during construction, because the 75/25 plan front-loads payments before the unit exists and mortgage lenders are cautious on off-plan. That said, the per-foot value and the AED 2M+ ticket open up two financing-and-residency angles worth modelling deliberately rather than assuming.
On the visa side, a completed DAMAC Islands villa or townhouse can clear the AED 2M property threshold that anchors the 10-year Golden Visa for property investors. Because this is off-plan, the rules on when an under-construction unit qualifies — and how much equity you need — matter; we walk through the current position in our guide to the Golden Visa on off-plan property. Don't assume the booking alone secures the visa; the qualifying event and equity test are specific.
On financing, mortgages on Dubailand villas are available once the unit nears completion, but loan-to-value caps and the bank's debt-burden assessment determine how much you can actually borrow. If you intend to refinance the 25% handover instalment in 2028 rather than fund it in cash, stress-test that plan now against prevailing rates — see our roundup of Dubai mortgage rates and best banks for 2026. A handover instalment you cannot finance is a default risk, not a footnote.
On yield, the honest number for inland Dubailand villas is mid-single-digit gross — typically below the double-digit yields you see quoted for compact apartments in high-turnover communities. DAMAC Islands is fundamentally a floor-area-and-family-tenant play, not a yield-maximiser. If pure rental return is the goal, weigh it against the apartment-led communities in our highest-ROI areas ranking before committing capital to a large villa on a long off-plan runway.
Risks and checks before you commit
Granular pricing is only half the diligence. The other half is project-and-developer risk on a long off-plan runway. The headline risks for DAMAC Islands buyers in 2026:
- Handover-timing risk. A ~Q4 2028 target on phase 1 is a multi-year wait. Off-plan handover delays are common across Dubai; check the developer's recent delivery record and read our guide on off-plan handover delays and developer track records.
- Oversupply at handover. A 14,896-unit master plan delivering into the 2028 wave can compress launch-to-handover gains if too much stock hits the resale and rental market simultaneously.
- Lagoon vs sea expectation gap. Buyers expecting "Maldives" or "Bora Bora" sea views are buying themed man-made lagoons inland. Manage the lifestyle expectation, especially for end-user resale.
- Service charges and maintenance. Lagoon communities carry water-feature and landscaping upkeep that flows into service charges; budget for it in your yield maths.
- Escrow and registration hygiene. Confirm the project is registered, your payments route to the project escrow account, and you receive an Oqood. Verify the developer and project against the Dubai Land Department and RERA records before any transfer.
None of these are reasons not to buy — they are reasons to buy with the full picture. The per-foot value can be real and the risk can be real at the same time. Sequence your diligence: confirm the cluster and exact floor area, get the official price list and payment schedule in writing, verify DLD/escrow registration, then run the yield. For the broader strategy frame, our Dubai real estate investment pillar ties the off-plan, yield and visa angles together, and live availability across DAMAC and Nakheel sits on our projects directory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the price per square foot at DAMAC Islands in 2026?
Based on launch and secondary-market data, DAMAC Islands trades roughly in the AED 1,000–2,000 per square foot band. Townhouses sit at the lower end — individual Bayut listings calculate from about AED 982 to AED 1,379/sqft — while villas and waterfront-positioned units push toward AED 1,500–1,963/sqft per PropSearch's realised-transaction data. The exact rate depends on cluster, plot size and phase, so always confirm the floor area on your specific SPA.
Is DAMAC Islands the same as Dubai Islands by Nakheel?
No. DAMAC Islands is a villa-and-townhouse master community in Dubailand by DAMAC Properties, built around man-made lagoons. Dubai Islands (formerly Deira Islands) is Nakheel's coastal redevelopment across five real islands with genuine sea frontage and beaches. They are different developers, locations and product types, and they sit at different price-per-square-foot levels — DAMAC lower, Nakheel higher.
What are the names of the DAMAC Islands clusters?
There are six tropical-themed clusters: Maldives, Bora Bora, Seychelles, Hawaii, Bali and Fiji, confirmed on DAMAC's official clusters page. They are marketing themes within one master community — the same DLD process, escrow and registration apply to all six. Cluster choice mainly affects entry price and the unit mix between townhouses and signature villas.
What is the DAMAC Islands payment plan?
The headline structure is a 75/25 plan: 75% paid in instalments during construction and 25% due on handover, usually opened with a booking down payment in the ~10–20% range plus the 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee. DAMAC Islands 2 launched on an EOI basis where buyers could initiate booking with about 10% plus 4% DLD. It is a front-loaded plan, not a low-deposit one.
What is the starting price at DAMAC Islands?
Phase-1 four-bedroom townhouses launched from roughly AED 2M in November 2024, with six-bedroom villas from around AED 6M. DAMAC Islands 2 launched from about AED 2.75M for townhouses, with EOI pre-launch pricing near AED 2.85M. Seven-bedroom signature villas run materially higher, from around AED 13.95M.
When does DAMAC Islands hand over?
Phase-1 villas and townhouses target a handover around Q4 2028. That is a multi-year off-plan runway, so factor handover-timing risk and the possibility of delays into any return calculation. Off-plan handover delays are common across Dubai, so check the developer's recent delivery record before committing.
Is DAMAC Islands a good investment in 2026?
It offers a low per-square-foot entry, large floor areas and strong launch demand — DAMAC led Dubai's March 2026 developer sales with Dh3.12 billion. The trade-offs are an inland (lagoon, not sea) location, a long ~Q4 2028 handover and 2028 oversupply risk as a large master plan delivers. It can suit per-foot value buyers and long-term holders; short-term flippers should weight the delivery-wave timing carefully. Run your own numbers in our ROI calculator.
How does DAMAC Islands compare to Dubai Islands on price?
DAMAC Islands is cheaper per square foot (~AED 1,000–2,000) than Nakheel's Dubai Islands apartments (~AED 2,527 average) and Bay Villas (up to ~AED 2,213/sqft), because DAMAC is inland lagoon living while Nakheel offers real coastline. DAMAC gives more floor area and a lower entry ticket; Nakheel gives genuine sea frontage and an earlier (Q2 2027) handover. The right choice depends on whether you value floor area or waterfront.
What fees do I pay on top of the DAMAC Islands price?
The main statutory cost is the 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee, plus DLD admin, Oqood/registration and trustee charges (budget a few thousand dirhams), and ongoing service charges that include lagoon and landscaping upkeep. These are on top of the unit price and should be modelled into your all-in cost and yield before you commit.
Don't buy on the brochure render — buy on the per-foot maths. Get the exact floor area and official price list for your cluster, add the 4% DLD fee and the front-loaded 75/25 schedule, then run the all-in cost through our ROI calculator against a comparable handed-over Dubailand community. For the full community and risk view, pair this with our DAMAC Islands master-plan guide, and explore live availability on our projects directory. The REC community includes buyers who have transacted at Islands and across Dubailand — share your numbers and get the per-foot value pressure-tested.
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