21/10/2026
Two apartments. Same price. Same quoted square footage. One of them has noticeably more room to actually live in.
The number in the listing is not the whole story, and it is not always measured the same way twice.
The two terms that matter:
BUA, built-up area. The internal floor area of the unit, and the figure listings usually quote.
GFA, gross floor area. Measured from the outside of the exterior walls, used mainly by developers and planning authorities. For the same unit it is a bigger number than BUA.
Balconies are where comparisons quietly break. A covered balcony is sometimes counted inside the quoted area and sometimes not. Open terraces usually are not. If one listing folds in a 90 sq ft balcony and the next one does not, your price per square foot comparison is measuring two different things and telling you nothing.
Ask, in writing: which measure is this figure, and does it include the balcony.
Then stop looking at the number and look at the plan.
How much of it is corridor. A long entrance hallway is floor area you pay for and only walk through.
Where the structural columns sit. A column pushing into a living room corner takes usable space that still shows up in the total.
Whether the rooms are square. Narrow proportions and odd angles are hard to furnish regardless of what the area says.
Which way the glazing faces. West-facing glass in a Dubai summer decides how often you use that room at all.
Where the doors swing and where a bed or sofa can physically go. Plenty of compact layouts live larger than bigger ones that waste their width.
Price per square foot is a useful tool and a terrible shortcut. The same figure can describe a generous apartment or a cramped one.
Send us two floor plans you are deciding between and we will tell you which one gives you more.
CONTACT: +971 50 940 1777 | +971 56 708 4819
[email protected]
