Abu Dhabi's real estate market has closed the first nine months of 2026 with transactions worth Dh171.26 billion, a jump of 76.1 per cent in value compared with the same stretch of last year, according to figures released on Saturday by the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (Adrec).

The regulator counted 38,483 transactions from January to September, a 32.8 per cent rise in volume from the 28,977 deals, worth Dh97.19 billion, registered a year earlier. Adrec said values rose in every category it reports.

Sales drive the surge

Outright sales did most of the heavy lifting. Adrec recorded 23,749 sales transactions valued at Dh119.33 billion, more than double the Dh58.20 billion posted across 15,910 deals in the first nine months of 2025. That is a 105 per cent increase in value and a 49.2 per cent gain in volume.

Mortgage activity grew at a gentler pace but still moved higher. There were 14,390 mortgage transactions worth Dh45.92 billion, up 30.2 per cent in value and 13.2 per cent in volume from the 12,706 transactions totalling Dh35.26 billion a year before.

Foreign money flows in

The data points to a market increasingly shaped by overseas buyers. Foreign investment in Abu Dhabi's designated investment zones rose 131 per cent year on year to Dh86.11 billion, accounting for 81 per cent of all investment value recorded in those zones.

Foreign direct investment by non-resident individuals reached Dh17.22 billion over the nine months. That is already more than double the Dh8.2 billion logged across the whole of 2025. Buyers came from 121 nationalities, with the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States, France and Germany leading by value.

Rashed Al Omaira, Adrec's director general, said the figures show how many people and businesses are making a long-term commitment to the emirate. Buyers, he said, expect projects to be delivered, companies need space to grow, and residents want communities that work well long after handover. The regulator's job, he added, is to keep market rules in step with those expectations, from the way property is sold to how developments are managed once they are handed over.

Where the money went

Island communities again dominated the table. Al Reem Island recorded the highest transaction value at Dh29.86 billion, narrowly ahead of Al Hudayriyat Island at Dh28.62 billion. Al Saadiyat Island followed with Dh18.69 billion, then Yas Island at Dh13.4 billion and Zayed City at Dh5.36 billion.

Those locations are also where much of the new housing is headed. Adrec projects that six districts — Al Saadiyat, Al Reem, Yas, Zayed City, Khalifa City and Al Hudayriyat — will account for 77 per cent of the additional real estate supply expected through 2030.

Smaller segments, notable moves

Beneath the headline numbers, a few niche categories also stood out. Gift transactions rose 145 per cent in number to 76, while their value climbed 389 per cent to Dh0.44 billion. Musataha and long-lease deals totalled 268 transactions worth Dh5.57 billion. Their value rose 52.9 per cent even though volume fell 18.7 per cent, which points to fewer but larger agreements.

On the regulatory side, Adrec registered 54 new development projects during the period and issued 3,677 licences to real estate professionals, 32 per cent more than in the same months of 2025.

A market moving against the regional current

The strength of Abu Dhabi's property data stands out against a regional backdrop shaped by conflict. The war involving Iran, which began on 28 February, has disrupted travel and trade across the Gulf. Dubai's economy shrank 2.3 per cent in real terms in the first half of 2026, with tourism and transport among the weaker areas, according to figures published last month. Finance, healthcare and construction, however, kept growing.

Abu Dhabi's property numbers had already signalled momentum. An earlier Adrec update reported that deal value passed Dh155 billion after just eight months, which was enough to exceed the emirate's total for all of 2025. The latest release confirms that the pace held through September.

What to watch next

Two questions are likely to shape the months ahead. The first is delivery. With large volumes of new supply scheduled to arrive through 2030, the regulator's stated focus on finished projects and post-handover management will be tested in practice.

The second is whether foreign appetite, now far above last year's pace, holds up if regional tensions persist, or whether it strengthens further should diplomacy ease them.

For now, the figures describe an emirate attracting capital from a wide range of countries at a time when many investors elsewhere in the region are cautious. Buyers, developers and lenders will be looking to the fourth-quarter data for confirmation that the trend has staying power.