Abu Dhabi property market 2023–2024 review: AED 87bn, then AED 96bn, with Saadiyat in front
Abu Dhabi in 2023 and 2024, from ADREC: 22,751 transactions worth AED 87.1bn with sales value up 2.6 times, then 28,249 worth AED 96.2bn and foreign direct investment up 125% to AED 7.86bn. ValuStrat had Saadiyat villas up 19.9% in a year. Figures and the September 2026 status.
For years Abu Dhabi was the quiet neighbour: fewer deals, fewer foreign buyers and much less published data than Dubai. 2023 and 2024 changed that — less loudly than in Dubai, but faster in percentage terms. This review collects the official two-year results from the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) and ValuStrat's price indices, and closes with what has happened to the capital's market by September 2026.
Two years in one table
| Measure (ADREC) | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| All transactions, number | 22,751 (+19.5%) | 28,249 (+24.2%) |
| All transactions, value | AED 87.1bn (+12.2%) | AED 96.2bn (+10.5%) |
| Sales, number | 15,653 (+73.7%) | 16,735 |
| Sales, value | AED 61bn (+159.5%) | AED 58.5bn |
| Mortgages | — | 11,514 worth AED 37.7bn |
| Foreign direct investment | — | AED 7.86bn (+125%) |
The big step came in 2023, when the value of sales rose 2.6 times and their number by almost three-quarters. New resident investors rose 71% to 9,448 and non-resident investors 175% to 1,098. In 2024 the number of sales kept growing while their value dipped slightly, taking the average sale from about AED 3.9m to AED 3.5m. That is arithmetic, not a slowdown: the market widened through more affordable deals.
Two figures that circulate for these years — "transactions +77.8%" and "foreign investment +225%" — do not appear in ADREC's official results, which show +73.7% in the number of sales in 2023 and +125% in foreign direct investment in 2024. We use the official ones.
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Who was buying
Foreign direct investment in 2024 came from 2,302 investors from 105 countries, led by the United States, Britain, Kazakhstan, Russia, France and China. Abu Dhabi had stopped being a market for locals and government-sector expatriates. Over the year 38 new off-plan projects were launched and 12 large ones completed.
Prices: villas, and Saadiyat above all
Price growth in the capital was noticeably calmer than in Dubai, and that is the point of difference.
| Measure (ValuStrat) | Annual change |
|---|---|
| Villas, Q4 2024 | +8.9% |
| Apartments, Q4 2024 | +3.5% |
| Saadiyat villas, Q3 2024 | +19.9% |
| Al Raha villas, Q3 2024 | +7.5% |
| Saadiyat apartments, Q3 2024 | +4.5% |
| Apartment rents, Q4 2024 | +9% |
| Villa rents, Q4 2024 | +6.7% |
Villas on Saadiyat Island led at nearly 20% against about 8% for villas overall; the "Saadiyat +30%" sometimes quoted is not in ValuStrat's reports. Average gross rental yields held at about 7.5% (apartments 7.9%, villas 6.5%). By the end of 2024, ValuStrat noted, demand for ready homes had risen 56% as tenants turned into owners.
Where things stand in September 2026
The capital accelerated after 2024. ADREC closed 2025 at a record AED 142bn across 42,814 transactions, with sales of AED 99.4bn, and the first half of 2026 alone brought AED 117bn, more than double the year before (our H1 2026 review). The shift towards ready homes that ValuStrat spotted at the end of 2024 has become the main line of the market.
If you are choosing between the capital and Dubai, start with Abu Dhabi or Dubai: where to buy and our Saadiyat Island page, which lists current projects and prices.
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