Arabian Ranches

Arabian Ranches was one of the first villa communities Dubai built for families rather than investors, and two decades on that shows in the right way: the trees are grown, the clusters are quiet, the school is inside the community and the golf and polo clubs are its social centre. It is one of the few addresses in Dubai where residents stay for a decade. The trade-off is age. Most of the original villas are early-2000s stock, and air conditioning, kitchens, bathrooms and roofing are at or past their replacement point — price the works in, because a fully refurbished house and an untouched one on the same street are two different assets. The location is inland, which means no beach, no Metro and a car per adult; the run to DIFC or the Marina is not short at peak. Ranches II and III are newer and denser, and are better treated as separate markets than as extensions of the first phase.