Abu Dhabi’s real estate scene ended 2025 with its strongest showing to date, underpinned by steady demand and growing confidence from a wide mix of buyers. Across the year, total transaction value reached Dh142 billion, generated through more than 42,800 deals, a level that signals a market operating at scale rather than in bursts.
Figures from the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre point to acceleration on two fronts at once. The total value of transactions climbed 44% compared with 2024, while the number of transactions jumped 52%, indicating that growth was not confined to a handful of large-ticket moves. Instead, activity broadened across participants, spanning end users and institutional investors.
That combination of higher value and sharply higher volume helped define the year’s tone. It suggests buyers and financiers were not simply watching from the sidelines, but participating with enough conviction to push the market into new territory.
Sales and mortgages rise in tandem as financing stays available
A closer look at the year’s totals shows a market advancing in a balanced way, with both purchases and financing contributing meaningfully. Sales and purchase transactions accounted for Dh99.4 billion across more than 25,600 deals, representing the largest share of the year’s activity.
At the same time, mortgage lending formed a substantial second pillar. Mortgage activity reached Dh42.7 billion across more than 17,200 transactions, reflecting ongoing support from financial institutions and continued access to financing for qualified buyers.
This parallel rise in ownership transfers and lending points to a property ecosystem that is settling into a more mature phase. The pattern aligns with a market shaped by clearer regulation and improving transparency, where participation is reinforced by confidence in how the system operates and how information is surfaced.
International capital deepens its footprint and new projects enter the pipeline
Global interest remained a defining element of Abu Dhabi’s performance. Foreign direct investment in the emirate’s property market totaled Dh8.2 billion in 2025, up 13% from the year before, reflecting sustained attention from international buyers and investors.
Participation spanned more than 100 nationalities, with notable inflows coming from Russia, China, the UK, the US, France, and Kazakhstan. Investment zones drew a particularly large share of overseas capital, representing 72% of total real estate investment and rising to Dh54.13 billion, a 65% increase year on year.
Engineer Rashed Al Omaira, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre, framed the results as the product of deliberate market building rather than chance. He said the outcomes reflected a sector shaped around trust, clarity, and long-term confidence, adding that the centre’s focus has been to move the market beyond sheer activity and toward maturity through governance, dependable data, and a regulatory environment designed to protect investors while enabling sustainable growth. He also pointed to the diversity and scale of transactions as evidence that Abu Dhabi is not only attracting capital, but keeping it through confidence in the system. Reinforcing that momentum, the year also saw the registration of 56 new development projects and a surge in professional licensing, with more than 3,500 real estate professionals authorised to operate in the sector.
