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Read Full Issue Abu Dhabi’s residential property prices grew significantly in 2Q, with average prices rising 6.4% from 1Q to reach AED 1.2k per sq ft, according to Knight Frank’s Abu Dhabi Residential Market Review(pdf). Average residential property prices increased by 17.3% y-o-y and are now 31.3% higher than pre-pandemic values.
Apartments led q-o-q growth, while villas outperformed in annual terms: Prices in the apartment segment rose by 6.8% q-o-q to AED 1.3k per sq ft, bringing yearly growth to 17.3% for the quarter and 28.7% higher than 1Q 2020. The villa market recorded a more modest quarterly growth of 3.4%, putting average prices at AED 1.1k per sq ft, though villas showed stronger long-term value growth, with prices up 42.3% since 1Q 2020.
Top areas: In the villa market, Al Saadiyat Island saw the most significant price hike, with a y-o-y increase of 28%. Yas Island wasn't far behind, with a 22% increase in the first six months of this year. On the apartment front, Al Raha Beach is leading price growth so far with an 11% uptick in 1H 2025, followed by Al Saadiyat Island with 10% growth.
Slowdown in transactions: While 890 residential units were delivered, residential market transactions witnessed a 36% slump compared to 1H 2024, coming in at AED 9 bn for the period. Luxury properties remain in demand, as houses worth above AED 10 mn accounted for a record 25% of the total transaction value in 1H, although the actual number of high-end transactions remained flat at 141 — the same as last year.
The official data tells a slightly different story: Data from the Abu Dhabi Municipalities and Transport Department reported AED 52 bn in real estate transactions for the first half of this year, whereas Knight Frank’s figures filter out outliers which don’t include specific data on transactions, the firm’s MENA head of research Faisal Durrani told EnterpriseAM. Its new supply predictions are also lower than others, as it only counts units that are currently being built and doesn’t include those being developed by individuals.
Future prospects: Knight Frank expects a total of 33.1k new homes to be completed and added to the market by 2029, with apartments set to account for 62% of new supply. Currently, apartments make up 71.1% of existing supply, with villas accounting for 28.2%.
