The Willows at Sobha Sanctuary

The villas cost less per square foot than the apartments

Sobha is selling four products inside Sobha Sanctuary at once, and a developer availability report dated 6 September 2026 lets them be lined up on the one measure that matters. The Woods Serenity, the apartment phase, sells at AED 1,930 per sq ft. The Woods Retreat, the earlier apartment phase, is AED 1,850 to 1,875. The Grove, the detached estate villas, is AED 1,900 to 1,925. And The Willows, these garden villas, is AED 1,625 to 1,700.

So the cheapest square foot in the masterplan is a four-bedroom villa with a garden and a garage, and the dearest is a two-bedroom apartment. That inverts the assumption most buyers walk in with. It does not make the villa the better buy — a 2,459 sq ft villa is a AED 4 million commitment against roughly AED 1.7 million for the apartment, and the exit markets are different — but anyone being told that villas here carry a premium should be shown the rate card.

A rate card, not a range

Sobha’s website publishes AED 4.00 to 4.16 million. That covers Types A and B only. The full picture from the availability report:

• Type B — 2,459.02 sq ft, AED 3,995,907.50 or AED 4,057,383, which is AED 1,625 or AED 1,650 per sq ft. 21 available.
• Type A — 2,520.91 sq ft, AED 4,159,501.50, a flat AED 1,650 per sq ft. 35 available.
• Type C corner — 3,430.24 sq ft, AED 5,831,408, AED 1,700 per sq ft. One available.

Two things follow. The Type C corner sits 40 per cent above the top of the published range, so “from AED 4 million” and a corner villa are not the same conversation. And Type B is the only type sold at two different rates — AED 1,625 on some units, AED 1,650 on others — which Sobha does not explain anywhere we can find. If you are buying a Type B, ask which rate applies to your plot and why.

Same price, different plot

Every available Type A carries exactly the same price, AED 4,159,501.50, because the price is struck on chargeable area and every Type A is 2,520.91 sq ft. The plots underneath them are not the same: they run from 1,875.07 to 1,947.30 sq ft.

That is a spread of about four per cent in land for identical money, and the buyer who does not ask simply gets whichever plot is next on the list. Type B is wider still, from 1,743.53 sq ft up to about 1,900. The plot number is the negotiation here, not the price.

Read the plot figure carefully

Type A: plot 174.17 to 180.91 sq m (1,874.70 to 1,947.30 sq ft), chargeable area 234.20 sq m (2,520.91 sq ft). The Type C corner: plot 259.5 to 277.26 sq m (2,793.21 to 2,984.41 sq ft), chargeable 318.68 sq m (3,430.24 sq ft).

Chargeable area is larger than plot area on both, because these are two-storey homes — the built area exceeds the ground they stand on. It matters because villa listings across Dubai quote sometimes a plot and sometimes a built-up figure, often without saying which. Comparing The Willows’ 2,521 sq ft chargeable against another project’s 2,500 sq ft plot is comparing two different things.

The payment plan is a promotion, with a date on it

Sobha has published no standard payment plan for The Willows. What exists is a September promotion: 50 per cent during construction and 50 per cent on completion, with a 4 per cent DLD waiver, on units booked with a 2 per cent booking amount between 1 and 15 September 2026. The same sheet gives the estate villas at The Grove a 40/60 plan with the same 4 per cent waiver.

Treat that as what it is. A 50/50 split and a waived transfer fee are real money — on a AED 4 million villa the 4 per cent DLD waiver is worth about AED 160,000 — but it is a fortnight-long offer, not the terms of the product. Ask what the payment plan looks like on 16 September, and get whichever plan you are given in writing with its expiry on the page.

What has not been published

No handover date, in the brochure dated 19 August 2026 or on the project page. No DLD project registration number and no escrow account. Sobha has published exactly those things for the neighbours: The Grove is Dubai Land Department project 4366, escrowed at Dubai Islamic Bank, registered for completion on 31 August 2030; The Woods is project 4485 at the same bank. A registration for The Willows almost certainly exists and simply is not in the public material. Ask for the number, then look it up yourself.

What to ask for, in writing

• The plot area and plot number of the specific villa, not just the type.
• If you are buying a Type B, which rate applies to your unit – AED 1,625 or AED 1,650 per sq ft – and why.
• The payment plan with its expiry date stated on it, and what replaces it afterwards.
• The DLD project registration number, the escrow account, and the registered completion date.
• Plot and chargeable areas for Type D, which Sobha publishes plans for but no area schedule.
• How many villas exist in total at The Willows, against how many are available.
• Service charge estimate per square foot, and who manages the community.