Dubai Real Estate Market Sales 2026: Abu Dhabi Growth Hits 76%

• Total value: Last year, deals in the same 9 months added up to AED 97.19 bn. This year, buyers spent far more, which is why the total is now a record.
• Number of deals: 38,483 property deals were signed, which is 32.8 percent more than last year.
• Buying and selling: Money spent on buying and selling property more than doubled, going up 105 percent to AED119.33bn.
• Buyers from abroad: Foreign investment in special investment zones went up 131 percent to AED86.11bn. Out of every 100 dirhams put into these zones, 81 came from foreign buyers.
• People living outside the UAE: Investors who do not live in the country put AED 17.22bn into Abu Dhabi property.

This growth came in a difficult year. On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Iran then fired missiles and drones at Gulf countries, including the UAE, and many people began to worry about the property market.

The worry showed up quickly. In March, the number of property deals in Abu Dhabi fell 16% compared with February. Many buyers stopped to wait and watch, and some expected prices to drop, so they held back.

Things began to calm down after a ceasefire in early April 2026. In June, the United States and Iran agreed on a plan to end the war. Buyers slowly returned, and by the end of September, Abu Dhabi was far ahead of where it stood a year earlier.

This is what makes the Abu Dhabi jump so important. It shows that buyers, banks and foreign investors kept their trust in the market even after a war reached the country. At the same time, the ceasefire did face breaks in the weeks after it began, so world events still matter for anyone planning to buy.

Outright purchases make up the biggest share of the Dubai total. Property sales reached about AED 411.98 bn ($112.2 bn), which is roughly 66 percent of all deal value in the 10 month window.

Mortgage transactions added around AED 164 bn ($44.7 bn). That is a large finance component, and it tells buyers that bank lending is an active part of the market, not a side channel. Property gifts, which cover transfers between family members and similar non sale transfers, came to approximately AED 49 bn ($13.3 bn).

For anyone tracking Dubai property sales 2026, the split matters more than the headline. A market led by sales with steady mortgage use has real end user and investor demand behind it, rather than value created only through refinancing or internal transfers.

Completions are one of the clearest signs of Dubai property market growth, and supply is keeping pace with demand. In the first 6 months of 2026, 104 real estate projects were completed in Dubai with a combined investment value above AED 111 bn ($30.2 bn).

In the same period of 2025, the city completed 75 projects worth AED 73 bn ($19.9 bn). That means 29 more projects reached completion this year, and the investment value behind them grew by roughly 52 percent. For buyers, more handovers mean more ready homes to choose from. For investors, it also means more competition when leasing or reselling in areas where many towers complete at once.

Abu Dhabi is the standout growth market this year, and deal value grew far faster than deal count. The rise in sales value came from 23,749 sale deals, while mortgage transactions reached AED 45.92 bn ($12.5 bn).

When value rises much faster than volume, the average deal is getting bigger. This points to buyers moving into higher priced homes and larger units in the capital. Abu Dhabi property sales in 2026 are being driven by bigger tickets, not only by more buyers.

Overseas money is a major driver of Abu Dhabi property market growth. Foreign buyers now hold the clear majority of investment value in the capital's designated investment zones, which shows how strongly international capital is flowing into these areas.

Non-resident individuals have already invested more than twice the AED 8.2 bn ($2.23 bn) they put into Abu Dhabi property across the whole of 2025, and the year still has 3 months of data to come. For international buyers comparing the two largest emirates, Abu Dhabi has moved firmly onto the shortlist.

Sharjah posted steady rather than explosive growth. Monetary real estate transactions over the first 9 months were 5.6 percent higher than the AED 44.3 bn ($12.1 bn) recorded in the same period of 2025.

Deal count grew faster than value, up 14 percent to 91,560, with 46,125 properties traded across investment categories. Sales reached 24,749 transactions worth AED 35 bn ($9.53 bn), while mortgages totalled approximately AED 10.2 bn ($2.78 bn) across 3,839 deals.

The Sharjah property market 2026 picture is one of high activity at smaller ticket sizes, which suits buyers looking for a lower entry point within the UAE.

Ajman figures cover a single month, so they work as a snapshot rather than a yearly total. The emirate recorded 1,140 real estate transactions in October.

• Property trading: AED 1.22 bn ($332 m) across 900 transactions
• Mortgage transactions: 139 deals worth AED373m ($102m)

Even on a monthly view, Ajman shows a healthy mix of trading- and finance-backed purchases.

Ras Al Khaimah activity covers sales, lending, and ownership transfers over 6 months.

• Property sales: AED 1.353 bn ($368 m) across 1,274 transactions
• Mortgage transactions: AED 1.160 bn ($316 m) through 463 deals
• Property waivers: approximately AED 380 m ($103 m) across 348 transactions

Mortgage value here is close to sales value, a sign that financed purchases form a large part of buying activity in the emirate.

The UAE property transactions 2026 data shows that each emirate offers something different, and each comes with trade offs.

For Dubai real estate investment, the city has the deepest market by a wide margin. High volume makes it easier to buy and sell, and rising completions add ready stock. The flip side is that heavy supply in some areas can mean more competition when renting out or reselling a unit.

Abu Dhabi has strong momentum and heavy foreign demand. Buyers entering now gain from that interest, but rapid growth also means entry prices may already reflect much of the optimism, so careful project selection matters.

Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah offer smaller markets with lower deal values. These suit budget focused buyers, though smaller markets can take longer to resell in.

One point to keep in mind: these are transaction values, not price indices. Higher totals show more money changing hands, but they do not by themselves prove that prices per square foot have risen.

The emirates report over different time windows: 10 months for Dubai, 9 months for Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, 6 months for Ras Al Khaimah, and 1 month for Ajman. Treat this as a view of reported activity across the UAE property market 2026, not a like for like ranking of annual performance.