Abu Dhabi Property Transactions Reach AED 117 Billion as Foreign Investment Rises 309 Percent
Real estate transactions in Abu Dhabi reached AED 117 billion in the first half of 2026, an increase of 112 percent on the same period a year earlier, according to figures published by the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre on 24 July 2026. Transaction volume rose 61.7 percent year on year.
Sales accounted for AED 86.1 billion across 16,838 transactions, an increase of 163.7 percent in value on the first half of 2025. Mortgages contributed AED 26.7 billion through 8,876 transactions, more than 33 percent higher in value. Musataha and long-lease transactions came to AED 4 billion and gifts to AED 311.5 million; the centre publishes those two by value without a transaction count.
The single most striking line in the release is foreign direct investment, which reached AED 13.8 billion, an increase of 309 percent year on year, and more than the total foreign direct investment the emirate recorded across the whole of 2025.
| Abu Dhabi, first half 2026 | Value, AED | Change on H1 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| All transactions | 117 billion | +112 percent |
| Sales | 86.1 billion | +163.7 percent |
| Mortgages | 26.7 billion | more than +33 percent |
| Foreign direct investment | 13.8 billion | +309 percent |
Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre, 24 July 2026. Sales volume 16,838 transactions; mortgage volume 8,876 transactions; total transaction volume up 61.7 percent.
Developer disclosures show strong profits but mixed sales
The listed developers reported half-year results in the same window, and their own disclosures complicate the picture rather than confirming it. Emaar and Aldar reported lower sales year on year while Modon recorded a sharp increase. Profitability stayed strong across most of the major reporters.
| Developer | Property sales, H1 2026 | Change year on year | Disclosure date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emaar Properties | approximately AED 26.6 billion | −42 percent | 7 August 2026 |
| Modon Holding | AED 26 billion | 2.6 times higher | 29 July 2026 |
| Emaar Development | AED 22.4 billion | not stated here | 7 August 2026 |
| Aldar Properties | AED 12.1 billion | −34 percent | 29 July 2026 |
| Binghatti Holding | AED 9,592 million | not stated here | 27 July 2026 |
Each figure and each change is as stated by the company itself. The rows are not comparable and must not be summed: Emaar Development is the UAE arm of Emaar Properties and its figure is a subset of the group total, while Modon’s AED 26 billion spans Abu Dhabi, Egypt and Spain. Modon states that AED 23 billion of it was in Abu Dhabi, which it says was the highest of any developer in the emirate and made it the number one developer by sales value there.
Modon is the outlier in direction as well as scale, reporting sales 2.6 times higher than the first half of 2025. Emaar remains the largest single reporter at approximately AED 26.6 billion, but that is 42 percent below its own first-half 2025 figure, and Aldar’s AED 12.1 billion is 34 percent lower year on year even as its net profit after tax rose 18 percent.
Profitability tells the opposite story to sales at almost every company. Emaar Properties reported revenue of AED 23.9 billion, up 21 percent, and net profit before tax of AED 12.8 billion, up 23 percent. Aldar reported revenue of AED 16.8 billion and net profit after tax of AED 4.9 billion, up 18 percent. Modon reported group revenue of AED 9.2 billion, up 40 percent, and net profit of AED 2.2 billion, which it describes as a record half-year. Binghatti reported revenue of AED 9.5 billion, up 50 percent, and net profit of AED 3.0 billion, up 64 percent. Deyaar reported revenue of AED 952.6 million and net profit before tax of AED 336.1 million, up 26 percent. Union Properties reported revenue of AED 529.3 million, up 68 percent. The exception is RAK Properties, which reported revenue of AED 533 million against AED 775 million a year earlier, a decline of 31 percent, with profit after tax down 52 percent to AED 77 million.
At Emaar and Aldar, the combination of higher recognised earnings and lower new sales illustrates how current financial results can reflect projects sold in earlier periods. The backlogs are where the forward view sits, and each company defines its own measure, so they are set out individually rather than added together: Emaar Properties reports a revenue backlog of approximately AED 164.9 billion, Aldar a development backlog of AED 71.6 billion at 30 June 2026, Modon a group revenue backlog of AED 65.4 billion which it says doubled year on year, and Binghatti a development backlog of AED 44.2 billion. Union Properties states that AED 3.87 billion of potential development revenue remains to be recognised through the end of 2028, and RAK Properties reports a sales backlog of AED 3.30 billion against AED 2.62 billion a year earlier.
The central bank’s own read
The Central Bank of the UAE, in its Quarterly Economic Review published in June 2026 with a data cut-off of 12 May 2026, describes accelerated transaction volumes in Abu Dhabi residential real estate from mid-2025 through the first quarter of 2026, reaching a 119.6 percent year-on-year increase, with apartment sales up 129.8 percent and villa sales up 99.6 percent. In the off-plan segment it records apartment sales rising 180.6 percent and villa sales 175.5 percent. For Dubai it records total transaction value up 30.3 percent year on year in the first quarter. The central bank attributes the expansion to sustained demand from international investors and a growing local population.
Why it matters
The UAE property market is one of the clearest transmission channels between Gulf hydrocarbon revenue and non-oil domestic activity, and one of the few asset markets in the region where a foreign investor can take a position directly. A 309 percent year-on-year increase in property foreign direct investment, with the first-half 2026 total already exceeding the amount recorded during the whole of 2025, is a significant capital-flow signal rather than a housing statistic.
The divergence between the official data and the company disclosures is the part worth holding on to. Registered sales value across the emirate rose 163.7 percent year on year, while company-level sales trends were sharply mixed in both directions. That gap shows why individual developer disclosures cannot be used as a proxy for emirate-wide activity: geographic exposure, launch timing, market share and secondary-market transactions all affect the comparison, and the official data published so far do not isolate their respective contributions.
Outlook
The disclosed company backlogs provide multi-year revenue visibility, although their definitions and geographic coverage differ and they should not be aggregated. The measures to watch into the second half are whether the pace of foreign investment holds anywhere near its first-half level once the comparison base normalises, and whether Emaar’s and Aldar’s sales declines prove to be phasing of launches or something more durable.
Sources: Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre, first-half 2026 transaction report, 24 July 2026. Emaar Properties PJSC and Emaar Development PJSC half-year results, 7 August 2026. Modon Holding PJSC half-year results, 29 July 2026. Aldar Properties PJSC half-year results, 29 July 2026. Binghatti Holding Limited half-year results, 27 July 2026. Deyaar Development PJSC half-year results, 3 August 2026. RAK Properties PJSC half-year results, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange disclosure and investor presentation, 6 August 2026. Union Properties PJSC half-year results, 23 July 2026. Central Bank of the UAE, Quarterly Economic Review, June 2026, data cut-off 12 May 2026.
