AED 117 Billion: What Drove Abu Dhabi’s Record H1 2026
By Marketing
Abu Dhabi recorded AED 117 billion in real estate transactions in H1 2026, up 112% year-on-year and making it the strongest first half on record.
That number will naturally get most of the attention. But on its own, it does not tell us much about what is actually happening inside the market.
The more useful story is in what drove that growth, who was buying, where the money went, and what happens when the next wave of supply arrives.
Sales drove the Growth. Not Mortgages
Of the AED 117 billion transacted in H1, AED 86 billion came from real estate sales. Sales represented 74% of total transaction value, the highest proportion recorded in ADREC’s series.
Residential units were the main contributor. Residential unit sales reached AED 70.4 billion, nearly three times the value recorded in H1 2025.
That is important because it tells us the growth was not simply the result of more financing activity or larger mortgage registrations. The biggest increase came from actual property sales.
There was also a clear shift in where buyers were spending. Sales value grew faster than transaction volumes, which ADREC attributes partly to price increases and partly to buyers moving towards higher-value product.
Off-Plan Became the Market
The biggest structural feature of H1 was off-plan.
89% of residential sales value came from off-plan property, representing 82% of all residential deals. Off-plan apartment sales value increased 220% year-on-year, while villas and townhouses increased 289%.
At that level, off-plan is no longer simply one segment of the Abu Dhabi market. It is the segment doing most of the work.
That has consequences for buyers. When such a large percentage of capital is being committed before completion, the decision becomes about more than price per square metre. Developer track record, delivery, payment plans, escrow protection and future competing supply all become increasingly important.
A strong market can support a lot of launches. It does not mean every launch will perform equally well.
Abu Dhabi Is Also Selling to a Much Wider Market
The buyer base expanded significantly during the first half.
Resident expatriates and non-resident foreign buyers together accounted for more than 70% of residential sales value. Non-resident foreign purchases alone reached AED 13.8 billion, roughly four times the value recorded a year earlier.
ADREC also recorded buyers from 116 nationalities.
That is probably one of the more important developments in the report. Abu Dhabi is no longer relying on a relatively narrow pool of domestic or resident buyers to support new development. The market is becoming much more international.
At the same time, Emirati demand also grew in absolute terms, with Emirati buyers committing AED 21 billion during the period. So foreign demand appears to be adding to the market rather than simply replacing local participation.
The Geography of the Market Changed
The other major shift was where the sales happened.
For years, conversations around Abu Dhabi investment property have tended to centre on Saadiyat, Yas and Reem. H1 2026 added another name very firmly to that list.
Al Hudayriyat recorded AED 19 billion in residential sales, compared with AED 2.4 billion in H1 2025. That made it Abu Dhabi’s largest residential sales district by value during the first half, accounting for 27% of the market.
What makes this more interesting is that the established areas were not necessarily weakening underneath it. Saadiyat, Yas and the ADGM districts also recorded strong growth.
So this was less about demand moving from the old locations to the new ones and more about the overall investable map of Abu Dhabi getting larger.
What Is Coming Next?
Strong demand is only half of the equation.
ADREC currently projects approximately 70,800 additional residential units across the emirate by 2030, with around 95% of that supply expected in the Abu Dhabi Region.
More importantly, that supply is heavily concentrated. 77% of projected incremental supply is expected in six districts: Saadiyat Island, Reem Island, Yas Island, Zayed City, Khalifa City and Hudayriyat Island.
That creates the question I think investors should be paying more attention to now.
The areas receiving the most demand today are also some of the areas where significant new stock is being delivered tomorrow.
That does not automatically make them bad investments. Far from it. But it does mean that simply buying into the strongest-performing location is not enough. You need to understand what is being built around you, when it will be delivered, how similar it is to what you are buying, and how much future demand will be required to absorb it.
Behind the Numbers
AED 117 billion tells us Abu Dhabi had an exceptional first half.
The more useful takeaway is what sits underneath it: a market dominated by off-plan sales, increasingly supported by international buyers, expanding into new districts and heading towards a much larger supply pipeline.
That is where the investment decisions become more complicated.
The question for the second half of 2026 is no longer whether there is demand.
It is which parts of the market can keep that demand as more supply arrives.
Source: Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC), Abu Dhabi Real Estate Market Report — H1 2026