Abu Dhabi’s residential landscape is entering a period of significant expansion, with fresh figures from the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) showing the emirate’s housing stock climbing from around 409,000 units today to roughly 480,000 by the end of the decade. The single busiest year for handovers will be 2028, when close to 21,800 new homes are due to be delivered.
Six Districts Driving the Bulk of Growth
According to ADREC’s Real Estate Market Report for the first half of 2026, just six districts are expected to account for 77% of all incremental residential supply through to 2030: Saadiyat Island, Reem Island, Yas Island, Zayed City, Khalifa City and Hudayriyat Island. The concentration extends to developers too, with nine major players responsible for 76% of the projects currently in the pipeline. High-end and mid-market apartment and villa communities make up most of this activity, with the majority of schemes sitting within investment zones.
Looking at the wider Abu Dhabi Region specifically, average annual supply growth has run at 3.3% since 2022, and the region now makes up 79% of the emirate’s total residential stock. Between the second half of 2026 and 2030, development projects are expected to contribute 77% of the region’s supply growth, with the remaining 23% coming from standard building permits.
Rents Continue to Climb
The wave of new supply is arriving alongside sustained rental growth. New-lease prices rose 17% for apartments and 9% for villas across the emirate as a whole. Within investment zones specifically, the increases were even steeper, with apartment rents up 21% and villa rents up 16%.
ADREC Director General Rashed Al Omaira said the data goes beyond simple numbers, offering a way to read market trends and understand what shifts in supply and demand mean for investors, developers and decision-makers. He pointed to registered sales, tenancy and mortgage transactions across the emirate as the basis for this understanding, and described the first half of 2026 as reflecting a resilient market underpinned by steady demand, clear regulation, transparent data and a balanced approach to supply.
Abu Dhabi recorded 233,000 active residential lease contracts during the first half of the year, with total lease values reaching AED 9.3 billion, up 8% year on year even as contract volumes grew a more modest 2%. Rental units now make up 69% of all occupied homes across the Abu Dhabi Region.
Abu Dhabi’s residential landscape is entering a period of significant expansion, with fresh figures from the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) showing the emirate’s housing stock climbing from around 409,000 units today to roughly 480,000 by the end of the decade.
Investment Zones Expand Their Footprint
Investment zones accounted for more than 22% of total residential stock in the first half of 2026, equivalent to around 72,000 units. Reem Island led the pack with 27,500 units, followed by Al Raha, Yas Island and Saadiyat Island.
On the sales side, repeat sales prices rose 20% year on year for apartments and 12% for villas. Residential unit sales across the emirate reached AED 70.4 billion in the first half of 2026, a sharp jump from AED 25.3 billion during the same period the previous year.
Off-plan property dominated this activity, accounting for 89% of residential sales value and 82% of transactions by volume. Ten leading developers captured 90% of off-plan primary sales, worth a combined AED 51 billion, while just ten projects generated 43% of total residential sales value, equivalent to AED 30 billion.
Al Omaira noted that the largest share of residential sales value went to homes that have not yet been built, which places added weight on the regulator’s work ahead of project completion. He said ADREC remains focused on ensuring clarity, confidence and fairness for all market participants, backed by reliable information, protected buyer funds and rules that hold steady across market cycles.
Hudayriyat Leads on Sales Value
Hudayriyat Island posted the strongest sales performance of any district, recording AED 19 billion in residential sales during the first half of 2026, or 27% of total residential sales value. Saadiyat Island followed with AED 13.3 billion, while Reem Island and Al Maryah Island (within the Abu Dhabi Global Market area) together generated AED 10.5 billion. Yas Island added a further AED 7.3 billion.
Emirati buyers were especially active, committing AED 21 billion to residential property during the period compared with AED 8.9 billion in the first half of 2025. Resident expatriates and non-resident foreign buyers combined accounted for 70% of residential sales value.
Cash purchases remained a defining feature of the ready-property market, with 61% of transactions completed without financing.
Offices and Retail Hold Steady
Abu Dhabi’s commercial sectors also showed strength. Retail supply reached 3.85 million square metres of gross leasable area, up 5% on an annualised basis, with occupancy holding in the mid-nineties and new-lease prices rising 9%.
Office supply reached 3.4 million square metres, a modest 0.3% increase since the end of 2025. Occupancy across the overall office market, as well as within the prime and Grade A segments specifically, stood at 95%, while new-lease prices climbed 13%.
ADREC said its findings are drawn from registered transaction data covering sales, leases and mortgages recorded during the first half of 2026.
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