Abu Dhabi's secondary market has stopped relying on one part of the city to do all the work. Crompton Partners' Q1 2026 Secondary Market Transaction Report logged 702 deals worth AED 1.73 billion across six areas, and crucially, every one of those six is up on Q1 2025 on price per sqm.

Crucially we should note that most of the deals in Q1 were signed before the “regional tensions” kicked off on 28th February. Those effects won’t be seen until probably May 2026.

Reem moves the volume

Reem Island booked 389 of the 702 transactions and AED 624 million in value — the highest of any area in the report. Marina Square alone did 191 of those deals at AED 287 million, with an annual turnover rate of 21.93 percent. That is the highest project-level turnover anywhere in the report, and it tells you Reem is the most liquid pocket of the Abu Dhabi market right now.

The price story is just as striking. City of Lights posted a 54.1 percent QoQ price gain to AED 15,933 per sqm. Sun Sky Gate is up 41.3 percent, Shams Reem 35.8 percent, Najmat 31.3 percent. Five years ago, Reem was the overhang. Today, it is the engine.

Saadiyat trades thin, but heavy

Saadiyat Island recorded just 18 transactions in Q1 — the lowest of any area on the list — but AED 466.1 million in value. HIDD Saadiyat alone accounted for AED 363.3 million of that, with nine deals averaging AED 43,064 per sqm, up 23 percent QoQ.

Mamsha remains the most expensive address on the island at AED 46,828 per sqm, comfortably ahead of HIDD and the rest. The headline 13.7 percent QoQ decline at Mamsha came from a sample of three transactions, which is too small to call. Owners on Mamsha largely aren't sellers — the 2.6 percent annual turnover tells you exactly that. Saadiyat Beach Villas remain tightly held.

This is the trophy end of the market, behaving exactly as a trophy market should: thin volume, heavy values, owners who don't need to move.

The middle is catching up

The most interesting story in the report sits between Reem at one end and Saadiyat at the other. Al Reef Apartments are up 49 percent QoQ to AED 10,911 per sqm. Al Bandar in Al Raha is up 34.2 percent. Al Ghadeer Phase 2 is up 28.6 percent. Al Muneera, also in Al Raha, is up 33.2 percent.

These are not boutique buildings or trophy assets. They are the established, mid-market communities that lagged the post-2021 turnaround — and they are now catching up. Al Reef was the affordable entry point in Abu Dhabi for years; that gap is closing fast. With turnover rates between 6.7 and 9 percent across all three Al Reef projects, this is not paper appreciation. There is genuine liquidity behind the numbers.

For sitting tenants in Al Reef and Al Ghadeer who have been weighing the buy decision, those QoQ moves are the cost of waiting another quarter.

Yas runs across the board

Yas posted 79 transactions and AED 221 million in Q1, with three distinct stories running at once. Water's Edge did the volume — 43 deals at AED 75.8 million and 7.6 percent turnover. Mayan is the premium play at AED 28,464 per sqm and 10.16 percent turnover, the highest on the island. Noya posted the largest QoQ price jump on Yas at 58.8 percent.

What is unusual is that every project on Yas — from West Yas at one end to Yas Acres at the other — is up year-on-year. Apartments are outperforming villas everywhere except for Noya’s incredible returns, which suggests the depth of demand is widening, not narrowing.

Outlook: the rally has breadth

The pattern across all six areas is consistent. This is no longer a rally driven by one or two trophy locations. Reem is the liquid heart, Saadiyat is the value anchor, Yas is the all-rounder, and the mid-market — Al Reef, Al Raha, Al Ghadeer — is doing the catch-up work. The breadth matters. Markets that move on one engine tend to stall when that engine cuts out. Markets running on six are far harder to derail. However, no doubt the “regional tensions” will dent this momentum, “how badly” is the question to be asked.

For investors, the read-across is straightforward. The easy trade — buying anything on Saadiyat or Yas and watching it appreciate — is largely behind us. The next phase of returns will reward selectivity at the project level, and a willingness to look beyond the obvious postcodes. Al Reef Apartments at 49 percent QoQ is the kind of move you used to find only at the top end. That is not normal, and it is worth paying attention to.

Download the full report. The Q1 2026 Secondary Market Transaction Report — covering all six areas, every project, with QoQ price comparisons and turnover rates