Q2 Secondary Market: Which Projects Had the Strongest Activity?
By Marketing
Across the six Abu Dhabi areas covered in our Q2 dataset, we tracked 483 secondary-market transactions worth AED 1.25 billion.
These figures do not represent Abu Dhabi’s entire secondary market. They reflect the communities and projects included in our Q2 analysis. What they do show clearly is how differently activity can be distributed across the market.
Some projects recorded enough transactions to give a relatively strong indication of current pricing. Others showed significant annual price movements based on only a small number of sales.
For buyers, sellers and investors, that distinction matters.
Reem Island Recorded the Largest Transaction Sample
Among the six areas covered, Reem Island recorded 223 transactions worth AED 399.3 million, giving it the largest transaction sample in our dataset.
Saadiyat Island presented a very different picture. The projects tracked there recorded just 13 transactions, but those sales were worth AED 273.6 million.
Elsewhere, Yas Island recorded 48 transactions worth AED 200.9 million, while Al Reef recorded 108 transactions worth AED 183.7 million.
The figures are not directly comparable without considering the type of property being traded.
Reem includes projects with relatively high volumes of apartment transactions, while Saadiyat contains higher-value stock where individual sales can have a much greater impact on the total transaction value.
This is one reason island-wide averages should be treated carefully. The more useful comparison is often at project level.
Large Price Movements Need Context
Several projects in the report recorded substantial year-on-year increases in average price per square metre.
Yas Acres increased by 57.6% compared with Q2 2025, while Al Reef Villas 2 increased by 59.3%. Saadiyat Beach Villas recorded an 83.9% increase.
Those numbers are significant, but the transaction sample behind them is equally important.
Saadiyat Beach Villas recorded only three transactions during the quarter, while Yas Acres recorded five. With limited sales activity, differences between individual properties — including plot size, condition, upgrades, location and specification — can materially affect the average price achieved.
This does not make the price movement invalid. It means the percentage should be interpreted within the context of the transactions that produced it.
Projects with dozens of recorded sales provide a broader sample from which to assess current pricing. Projects with only a handful of transactions require closer examination of the individual deals.
Transaction Volume Is Only Part of the Picture
Transaction count is useful, but it naturally favours larger developments with more available stock.
For that reason, our analysis also considers annualised turnover, which compares the number of transactions taking place with the overall stock within a project.
Among the Reem Island projects covered in the report, annualised turnover ranged from 1.26% to 10.53%. On Yas Island, it ranged from below 1% to just over 4%.
That variation is important because two projects in the same wider location can have very different resale dynamics.
Higher turnover may suggest a more active resale market, but it should not automatically be interpreted as stronger investment performance. Owners sell for many different reasons.
Equally, low turnover can reflect limited buyer demand, but it may also indicate that relatively few owners are willing to sell.
For a clearer view of market performance, transaction volume, turnover and price movement should be considered together.
Project-Level Data Gives a More Useful Picture
Buyers and investors often begin by asking whether Yas Island, Reem Island or Saadiyat Island is performing well.
That is a useful starting point, but it does not tell the full story.
Within each area, individual developments can record very different transaction volumes, price movements and turnover rates. Two projects located only a short distance apart may therefore behave very differently in the secondary market.
For an owner considering a future sale, the relevant market is ultimately not the entire island. It is the buyer demand, available competing stock and recent transaction evidence for that specific development and property type.
This is why project-level analysis becomes particularly important when assessing a purchase, setting an asking price or evaluating resale potential.
What the Q2 Data Shows
The projects covered in our Q2 analysis recorded a number of strong annual price movements, but the evidence behind those increases varied considerably.
Some developments had large transaction samples. Others recorded only a small number of sales. Some changed hands relatively frequently, while others remained much more tightly held.
No single metric provides the full answer.
Understanding the secondary market requires looking beyond headline price growth and considering how many transactions occurred, how frequently properties are changing hands, and what type of properties were actually sold.
The figures in this article are taken from our Crompton Partners Q2 2026 Secondary Market Report, covering six Abu Dhabi areas and providing project-level data on transaction activity, transaction value, pricing and annualised turnover.
Download the report: https://cromptonpartners.com/resources