Emaar vs Damac: delivery track records compared

Ask an agent which of Dubai's two most famous developers to buy from and you'll get an opinion shaped by whoever pays the commission. We can't tell you which brand to prefer — but the DLD project registry records, for every registered project, how far construction has actually gone and whether the planned handover has passed. Here is what that record shows for both, updated with our daily snapshot.

First, an honest note on the numbers

DLD registers projects under legal entities, not brands. "Emaar" appears in the registry as several companies (Emaar Development, Emaar Properties, joint ventures), and Damac goes further — many of its projects sit under special-purpose companies whose names don't contain "Damac" at all. We match by name, so this comparison uses each brand's largest name-matched entity — EMAAR DEVELOPMENT P.J.S.C. (27 registered projects, of 4 Emaar-named entities totalling 38) and DAMAC PRIME DEVELOPMENT L.L.C (10 registered projects, of 4 Damac-named entities totalling 16). Both portfolios are therefore undercounts of the brand, Damac's especially — read this as a comparison of each brand's flagship registered entity, not its entire empire.

The head-to-head, from the registry

What the registry shows	EMAAR DEVELOPMENT P.J.S.C.	DAMAC PRIME DEVELOPMENT L.L.C
Registered projects (this entity)	27	10
Active now	24	10
Marked finished	3	0
Active past planned handover	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)
Avg days past, where past	—	—
Avg progress of active portfolio	18.8%	0.2%
Total registered value (AED)	17.52B	1.98B
On-time score (0–100)	98 — grade A	96 — grade A

Figures come from the latest daily registry snapshot and change as DLD's inspectors certify progress. The on-time score is the same 0–100 measure behind our developer league table: share of the active portfolio past its planned handover, weighted by how far past, with a small-sample adjustment so tiny portfolios can't game it.

How to read it

"Past planned handover" is the registry's hardest fact. A project is either past the completion date on file or it isn't. It is not the same as "abandoned" — most late projects deliver, late — but a portfolio's overdue share is the closest thing to a measured delivery record that exists.
Portfolio shape matters. A developer mid-way through many launches will naturally show lower average progress than one between cycles — that's a lifecycle fact, not a verdict.
What the registry can't show: build quality, finish standards, service-charge levels after handover, or how either brand treats buyers when things slip. This page measures schedule, and only schedule.
Slip history is coming. Today's score reads the current snapshot; as our daily archive grows, we'll measure how each developer's promised dates moved over time — a richer record than any single day can give.

The better question than "which brand?"

Brand-level averages are a starting point, but nobody hands over an average — they hand over your building. Two projects from the same developer can be years apart in discipline, different contractors, different financing, different luck. So whichever way this table leans on the day you read it, the sharper questions are: how fast is this specific project actually moving in the inspection record, is its planned date still standing, and what does the site look like in this month's photos? Every project page on this site answers those three from the registry — find yours in the directory, or scan everything already running late on the Late List.