Emaar

Emaar is the developer behind most of the addresses people picture when they think of Dubai: Burj Khalifa, The Dubai Mall, Downtown, Dubai Marina, Dubai Hills and Emaar Beachfront. Mohamed Alabbar founded it in 1997, and it trades on the Dubai Financial Market, which brings a level of reporting most private developers do not have.

For buyers, Emaar is usually the blue-chip call. Its master-planned communities tend to hold value on resale and rent well, partly because the brand carries weight with tenants and partly because Emaar controls the whole neighbourhood, not just one tower. You pay for that reliability. It is also the reason an Emaar launch is the benchmark everyone else gets measured against.