Abu Dhabi's property regulator has published its half-year report. It records AED 117 billion of transactions in six months — more than double the same period last year, and more than four-fifths of everything transacted in the whole of 2025. Below is what the report actually says, and what we think it means if you are buying.
Homes sold for AED 70.4 billion in the first half of 2026, against AED 25.3 billion a year earlier. The market has now beaten its own record twice in a row — and the jump is driven by price and product mix, not just by more deals.
89% of residential sales value — and 82% of all deals — was off-plan. Off-plan apartment sales alone grew 220% year on year.
84% of that off-plan apartment value went to just four places: Saadiyat Island, ADGM (Reem and Maryah), Yas Island and Fahid Island.
In the ready market, 61% of value was paid in cash and 39% mortgaged. Mortgage lending held steady at AED 3.1 billion, up 3%.
Resident expatriates and non-resident foreign investors together accounted for more than 70% of residential sales value. Purchases by non-resident foreigners — buyers with no UAE residency — reached AED 13.8 billion, four times last year's figure.
Al Hidayriyyat took 27% of all residential sales value — AED 19.0 billion, eight times the AED 2.4 billion it did a year earlier.
Saadiyat AED 13.3bn (+63%), ADGM AED 10.5bn (+153%), Yas AED 7.3bn (+91%). Together with Hidayriyyat they are 44% of the market.
Ten developers took roughly 90% of off-plan primary sales — AED 51 billion. The ten largest projects alone were 43% of all residential value.
ADREC tracks price growth by comparing the same units when they resell, so this is like-for-like growth rather than a change in what happens to be selling. Apartments accelerated — they were at +15% a year earlier. Villas and townhouses are now 72% above their 2020 level.
| Project | AED '000 / sqm |
|---|---|
| Seamont Residences by Marriott | 29 |
| Leaf Tower | 25 |
| Reem Nine | 24 |
| Rixos Residences | 24 |
| Riviera Residences | 23 |
| Canal by M | 23 |
| A1LA Residence | 23 |
| Flow25 | 22 |
| Rotana Residences South | 22 |
| Muheira B | 21 |
| Tara A | 20 |
| Sunstone | 19 |
| Mayar | 16 |
| Thoraya | 16 |
| Reem Hills | 9–12 |
Highlighted rows are projects we sell. ADREC plots apartment and villa/townhouse projects on one chart, so this table does not split by product type. Reem Hills is a villa community.
Apartments above AED 28k per sqm tripled in value and now take 46% of the market. Villas above AED 19k per sqm grew 4.6 times to half of villa value.
Demand rose in every price band, not only the top. Apartments under AED 17k per sqm still sold nearly 3,000 units, up 14%.
In most districts the highest prices are two to four times the average — an average price per district tells you very little about a specific building.
Leases across the emirate were worth AED 9.3 billion, up 8% — while the number of contracts grew only 2%. That gap is the whole story: the rental market is growing on price, not on volume, because there is very little new stock to rent.
Before it came in, new-lease prices were up 17% year on year for apartments and 9% for villas — and 21% and 16% inside investment zones. From 2 June 2026 ADREC froze increases: renewals at 0%, re-let units at the previous contract value. In the first month new-lease growth fell to 0.5% for apartments and villas went flat.
ADGM communities — Al Reem Island and Al Maryah Island — are exempt and continue to price freely.
Villas produce 26% of rental value from just 14% of occupied homes, at more than twice apartment rents. And 69% of occupied homes in Abu Dhabi Region are rented rather than owned — demand is structural.
Supply is coming, but slowly: 409,000 homes today, about 67,500 more in Abu Dhabi Region by 2030, with deliveries peaking in 2028. Three quarters of that lands in six districts.
About 3.85 million sqm of space, with occupancy at a five-year high of 94%. New lease prices up 9%.
About 3.4 million sqm, occupancy 95%, with Prime and Grade A effectively full. New lease prices up 13%.
Saadiyat, Reem and Yas account for 75% of all projected new apartments. Nine developers control 76% of the pipeline.
Everything above is ADREC's data. This part is our own opinion as a licensed Abu Dhabi brokerage — it is not in the report, and you should weigh it against your own advisers.
Prices rose 20% on apartments in twelve months and the money is concentrating in a handful of districts. Buying into the four districts that absorbed 84% of off-plan apartment value means buying where competition is hardest and pricing is fullest. That can still be right — those districts are where liquidity is — but it should be a decision, not a default.
Al Reem Island is second in the emirate for new supply — 13,518 homes by 2030. More stock generally means more competition on resale and on rent. It also means choice, and Reem is exempt from the rent freeze. If you are buying to rent out, that exemption is worth understanding properly before you commit.
ADREC's own note says maximum prices run two to four times the district average. On Reem Island alone the published range runs from AED 9k to AED 29k per sqm depending on the building. Comparing a specific unit against a district average will mislead you in both directions — ask for the building, the floor and the view, not the postcode.
Send us the project you are considering and we will come back with what the official data says about it, what is actually available, and at what price.
