Abu Dhabi property hits record Dh66 billion as investor demand surges

Record quarter driven by strong demand, rising FDI and expanding project pipeline

Last updated: April 07, 2026 | 15:22

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

A view of Abu Dhabi skyline. Daily coordination meetings held to ensure services continue without disruption across the emirate.

X/@ADMediaOffice

Dubai: Abu Dhabi’s property market opened 2026 with its strongest quarter on record, with transactions reaching Dh66 billion, up 160.7% from a year earlier.

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A total of 13,518 deals were recorded in the first three months of the year, compared to Dh25.31 billion across 6,896 transactions in the same period of 2025, according to the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre.

The surge was led by sales and purchases, which climbed to Dh50.97 billion, marking a 228.6% increase in value alongside a sharp rise in transaction volumes. Mortgage activity also expanded, reaching Dh15.03 billion, up 53.4% year-on-year.

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Key locations drive activity

Activity remained concentrated in prime investment zones.

Hudayriyat Island led the market with Dh11.97 billion in transactions, followed by Reem Island at Dh9.45 billion and Saadiyat Island at Dh8.8 billion. Yas Island also saw strong demand, recording more than Dh5.5 billion in deals.

The concentration of activity across these locations points to sustained investor interest in established and emerging lifestyle destinations.

Investor confidence lifts market

The scale of growth reflects a market that continues to attract both local and international capital.

Rashed Al Omaira, Director General of ADREC, said the performance highlights sustained confidence in the emirate’s real estate sector.

“This quarter’s performance is a clear reflection of the confidence Abu Dhabi continues to earn from investors both locally and internationally. Reaching a record level of activity is not only a sign of demand, it signals a market that is becoming more disciplined, with a clear focus on long-term investment.”

He added that regulatory oversight remains central to sustaining that momentum.

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“Our role as ADREC is to ensure this growth is supported through consistent oversight and a regulatory framework that upholds trust and accountability across the sector.”

Foreign investment accelerates

Foreign capital played a major role in the quarter’s performance.

Foreign direct investment rose 423% to Dh8.27 billion, matching the total recorded across the whole of 2025. Investors from 99 nationalities participated in the market, up from 68 a year earlier.

Investment zones accounted for the bulk of activity, with foreign investment exceeding Dh36.4 billion out of a total Dh43.59 billion, reflecting a 242% increase.

Supply expands but demand stays ahead

Demand continues to run ahead of supply, even as development activity accelerates.

Sixteen new projects were registered during the quarter, marking a 60% increase compared to last year. Residential supply is projected to rise by more than 10,000 units in 2026, with further expansion expected into 2027.

Leasing activity also remains firm, with repeat lease prices up 16% year-on-year in March, pointing to sustained demand from both end users and investors.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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