Abu Dhabi Weekly Market Brief

Week of 10–16 August 2026

Volume ran at 126% of the trailing eight-week average and 21% below the same week a year ago. Without Balghaiylam's 152 sales it ran at 79% of that average, and 50% below last year.

The Chart

Weekly transactions split by sale type (bars, left) and median rate in AED/sqm (line, right), last 16 weeks.

Following Up

Last week developers sold exactly one off-plan home on Saadiyat. This week they sold 19, and the island had its second-busiest week of the last sixteen. Owners still sold more of it — 34 of the 53 off-plan sales were flips. At Saadiyat Beach Residences, Block 3 sold 9 completed homes, breaking the record it had set the week before.

Price Signal

A year-low median, and one project behind it

Abu Dhabi's median sale rate came in at 13,816 AED/sqm, the lowest of any week since July last year. One project accounts for it. Balghaiylam — Aldar's development with the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority north-east of Yas Island, 1,743 homes in all — sold 152 of them, every one direct from the developer. That is more than a third of everything Abu Dhabi sold this week.These are not open-market homes. They go to citizens with a housing loan from the authority, three to six bedrooms, at a median AED 2.37M and 4,965 AED/sqm — about a quarter of the rate the rest of the emirate traded at. Take them out and the week reads differently: 256 sales at a median 18,819, with owners narrowly outselling developers.Balghaiylam has sold in bursts since late 2024 — its previous best week was 116 homes, in June last year. All 152 of this week's sales were registered on 12 August alone.

Project Watch

On Yas, owners are doing the selling

Yas sold 66 homes. Developers sold 17 of them; owners sold the other 49 — 37 of those off-plan contracts resold before completion. It is the second week in a row that owners have outsold developers on the island — a fortnight ago developers sold 64.Yas Park Place, which has sold more homes than any other Yas project over the past twelve weeks, sold 2. It sold 188 in the week of 11 May and 58 as recently as late July. Its keys are not due until 2030.Most of what traded instead were owners' contracts. Gardenia Bay was the island's busiest project at 21 sales, all off-plan — 19 resold by their owners, 2 sold new by Aldar, which is due to hand the community over in 2027.

District Snapshot — Week of 10 August

The table covers the five districts we report in detail each week and the total sales in Abu Dhabi.

Elsewhere

Hudayriyat sold nothing at all, its first blank week since May. Al Reem had its second-quietest week of the last sixteen at 60 sales, its busiest project Vista 3 with 11; Radiant Terrace recorded its first 2 sales. On Al Raha Beach, Hilton Residences accounted for 5 of the district's 8 sales, and the district median came in at 30,827 AED/sqm. And outside the fifteen districts we track, one home at SHA Residences — IMKAN's development on the coast between Abu Dhabi and Dubai — sold for AED 75.0M, the largest home sale anywhere in the emirate this week.

Methodology. Transaction figures are computed from ADREC registration data for residential sales in the week of 10–16 August 2026, analysed by Guru Real Estate. Registration dates lag sale dates; recent weeks may revise upward. Market news items link to their sources. This brief is for information only and is not investment advice.

Prepared by Guru Real Estate · Abu Dhabi
You are receiving this because you asked to hear from us. Reply to this email to unsubscribe.