A completed one-bedroom in International City sold for a median of AED 450,000 and rents for about AED 39,050 a year. That is a gross yield of 8.7%, against 5.2% for the same unit citywide. This is the cheapest way into Dubai property ownership, and on the numbers it is also the highest-earning. What follows is what the registry says it costs, and the one split inside the district that decides which of those numbers you actually get.
What International City costs
A note on the window first, because it shapes everything below. The land department only began reporting International City as its own district on 12 February 2026, having previously folded it into a wider Al Warsan area. Everything here therefore covers 12 February to 17 August 2026: roughly six months and 1,568 registered sales. That is ample depth for prices and yields, and it is also why you will find no year-on-year figure in this article. The district label does not have a year of history yet, and stitching it onto the old one would be a guess dressed up as a number.
Over that window the district registered 1,568 sales, every one of them an apartment. The median sale was AED 581,304, at AED 1,021 per square foot. Citywide over the same stretch the median apartment went for AED 1.2M, so International City trades about 52% below the Dubai median ticket and 40% below it per square foot.
The entry level is genuinely low. About 38% of everything sold went for under AED 500,000, 22% went under AED 400,000, and 8% went under AED 300,000. Half of all sales fell between AED 425,000 and AED 879,000.
On completed stock the ladder runs from AED 325,000 for a studio to AED 450,000 for a one-bedroom and AED 763,590 for a two-bedroom. Those are whole apartments, freehold, at prices that buy a parking space in some other districts. The median unit across the district measured 666 square feet, so these are functional homes rather than micro-units carved down to hit a price.
The two markets inside one name
Here is the thing the listings will not tell you. The registry now reports International City as two districts, and they are not the same market.
Phase 1 registered 745 sales at a median AED 712 per square foot. It is the original stock, and only 32% of its sales were off-plan. The median ticket is AED 475,000 for a median 721 square feet.
Phases 2 and 3 registered 823 sales at AED 1,172 per square foot, 65% higher, with 73% of sales off-plan and a median ticket of AED 806,840 for a smaller 636 square feet.
So a buyer searching the district name is looking at two different propositions wearing one label: older, larger, cheaper, mostly resale on one side, and newer, smaller, dearer, mostly off-plan on the other. Before making an offer, establish which phase the unit sits in. It is the single largest price variable in the district, and it is invisible in a portal listing that just says "International City".
The yields are real, and unusually high
A completed studio yields about 8.6% gross and a completed one-bedroom 8.7%. The citywide equivalents are 7.1% and 5.2%. On a one-bedroom that is roughly two-thirds more income per dirham invested than the Dubai average.
The reason is arithmetic rather than magic. Rents here are low in absolute terms, about AED 28,000 for a studio and AED 39,050 for a one-bedroom, but prices are lower still relative to them. The two-bedroom drops to 7.1%, which is the same pattern we found in Business Bay: the smaller the unit, the higher the yield, because rent scales with how many people a home houses while price scales with floor area.
Those are gross figures. Service charges, vacancy and management all come out before you see any of it, and on a budget unit they take a proportionally larger bite because the rent they are subtracted from is small. A yield near 9% before costs is not a yield near 9% in your account. Ask for the last two years of service charges in writing on any unit you are seriously considering, and run the net position with the ROI calculator, which has UAE fees pre-filled and editable.
Most buyers here are buying finished homes
Off-plan took 53.8% of sales in International City against 77% citywide. This is one of the few Dubai districts where about half the market is still completed stock changing hands.
That matters more than it sounds. A completed apartment can be tenanted the month you take the keys, so the yield above is not a projection waiting on a handover date, it is income available immediately. It also means the comparison set is real: you can see what the neighbours actually rent for rather than what a brochure suggests they might.
It changes the risk profile too. Most of the Dubai market is now buying buildings that do not exist yet, which puts construction timelines and handover dates between the buyer and the first rent cheque. Half of this district is not doing that. For a first purchase, particularly one made from outside the country, being able to inspect the actual apartment and read the actual tenancy contract is worth more than most yield differences.
If you would rather have the new-build, that option is here too, concentrated in Phases 2 and 3. Live launch prices and payment plans across the city sit on our project pages, and current developer incentives are collected on the offers page.
Fees, and three things worth checking
Dubai's transaction costs are predictable. The Dubai Land Department transfer fee is 4% of the purchase price, agent commission is typically 2% on completed property, and Oqood registration applies on off-plan instead of the standard transfer. Budget 6 to 8% on top of the price. On a AED 450,000 one-bedroom that is roughly AED 27,000 to 36,000, which on a small ticket is a larger share of your capital than it sounds.
Three checks earn their time in this district specifically.
First, service charges, for the reason above. They are the difference between a headline yield and a real one, and on cheap stock they decide the whole investment case.
Second, which phase, and the age of the building. Phase 1 stock is two decades old in places. Older buildings mean maintenance, and maintenance means either higher service charges or deferred work that becomes your problem. Registered titles and building records sit with the Dubai Land Department.
Third, the tenant, if there is one. Much of the completed stock trades tenanted. That is usually good, since income starts on day one, but it fixes your rent at whatever the existing contract says and Dubai's rules limit how quickly it can be raised. Read the tenancy contract before the price.
For a wider view of where else the city stays affordable, our guide to the cheapest areas to buy property in Dubai puts this district against the rest of the entry-level market.
FAQ
Is International City a good investment in 2026?
On yield, it is the strongest entry-level case in Dubai: completed studios return about 8.6% gross and one-bedrooms about 8.7%, against 7.1% and 5.2% citywide. The caveat is that service charges take a larger proportional bite out of low rents, so the net figure is materially below the gross one and should be checked per building before you commit.
How much does an apartment in International City cost?
The median sale was about AED 581,304. On completed stock the medians run from AED 325,000 for a studio to AED 450,000 for a one-bedroom and AED 763,590 for a two-bedroom. Around 38% of all sales in the district went for under AED 500,000.
What is the difference between International City Phase 1 and Phase 2?
A large one. Phase 1 registered a median AED 712 per square foot, Phases 2 and 3 registered AED 1,172, about 65% higher. Phase 1 is older, larger and mostly resale, at a median AED 475,000. Phases 2 and 3 are newer, smaller and 73% off-plan, at a median AED 806,840.
What rental yield can I expect in International City?
Gross yields on completed apartments run about 8.6% for a studio, 8.7% for a one-bedroom and 7.1% for a two-bedroom. These are before service charges, vacancy and management, which matter more on budget stock than the headline gap suggests.
Can foreigners buy property in International City?
Yes. It is a designated freehold area, so foreign buyers can own the apartment outright rather than on a lease. The purchase registers with the Dubai Land Department in the same way as anywhere else in the city, with the same 4% transfer fee.
References
Figures in this article are computed from official UAE property
transaction records (DLD, ADREC) via Prop971 market analytics,
including transactions up to 17 August 2026.
