Foreign buyers fuel Abu Dhabi real estate growth

• 78% of Aldar sales to foreigners
• 2024 sales worth $6bn
• Apartment prices rise 11.5%

Increased interest from international buyers is helping to fuel the growth of Abu Dhabi’s real estate market.

Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi’s largest real estate developer, reported a sales increase of 20 percent in 2024, with much of this growth down to foreign buyers, the company’s CEO says .

Aldar’s value of sales to foreigners residing inside and outside the UAE jumped almost 40 percent, from around AED16 billion ($4.35 billion) in 2023 to AED22.2 billion in 2024, the company’s CEO, Talal Al-Dhiyebi, told the UAE daily Al-Ittihad. 

“This is equivalent to around 78 percent of the total sales in 2024. Sales to UAE citizens stood at around 22 percent last year,” he said.

Al-Dhiyebi said the overseas buyers were mainly from the UK, Russia, China and India.

Andrew Laver, an associate partner at Cavendish Maxwell in Abu Dhabi, said in a press release.: “The residential sector in Abu Dhabi is experiencing steady growth, driven by increased demand from local and international investors as well as strategic government initiatives such as residency incentives.”

Strong demand for residential and commercial property in Abi Dhabi is expected to continue to fuel the sector’s growth in 2025, with roughly 11,000 new homes and 100,000 square metres of office space due to be delivered in 2025.

Demand for ready properties in Abu Dhabi rose by almost half in 2024, with apartment and villa prices growing by 11.5 and 12.5 percent respectively, a report by the property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell said.

Rental prices followed suit, with an average increase of 13 percent for apartments and 8 percent for villas.

Apartment sales made up 75 percent of 2024’s 9,700 sales.

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Falling interest rates, increasing investor confidence and attractive financing options from banks fuelled mortgage demand in 2024, Cavendish Maxwell said.

Grade A office buildings in Abu Dhabi’s central business district (CBD) and outer CBD sub-markets recorded an average year-on-year increase in rental performance of 8 percent in Q4 2024, the real estate company Savills said.

The industrial real estate sector in the UAE capital grew significantly, with average market rents up by a quarter year-on-year in 2024, Savills said.

Stephen Forbes, head of Abu Dhabi at Savills Middle East, said in a press release: “Occupier demand in Abu Dhabi remains strong, especially within key sectors such as financial services, consulting and technology.”