Abu Dhabi rents in the first half of 2026: 233,000 lease contracts worth AED 9.3 billion, new-lease prices up 17% for apartments, and a rent-increase freeze in force since 2 June
The Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre's market report for the first half of 2026, published on 18 August, counts 233,000 active residential lease contracts across the emirate, 201,000 of them in Abu Dhabi Region, with a total lease value of AED 9.3 billion, up 8% on a year earlier. New-lease prices rose 17% for apartments and 9% for villas, and 21% and 16% inside the investment zones where a Kuwaiti can own. Since 2 June 2026 a temporary freeze has held renewals at 0% and re-let homes at their previous registered rent, with ADGM communities excluded; in June, the first month under it, new-lease growth eased to 0.5% for apartments and villas held flat.
The leasing numbers
The Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC), an affiliate of the Department of Municipalities and Transport, published its Real Estate Market Report for the first half of 2026 on 18 August. It is built from registrations: every tenancy in the report entered ADREC's systems through Tawtheeq, the emirate's official system for registering residential tenancy contracts. At the end of June the emirate had 233,000 active residential lease contracts, 201,000 of them in Abu Dhabi Region, with a total lease value of AED 9.3 billion. Lease values were up 8% on a year earlier against 2% growth in the number of contracts. The report says 69% of occupied homes in Abu Dhabi Region are rented. New-lease prices rose 17% for apartments and 9% for villas over the year, and 21% and 16% inside the investment zones, the designated areas where non-UAE nationals can own freehold. The repeat lease index for Abu Dhabi Region, which tracks the same homes across successive contracts, rose 9% over the year, while the repeat sales index rose 18%.
The rent-increase freeze
Month-on-month growth in new-lease prices peaked at about 1.6% in December and January. On 2 June 2026 ADREC announced that rental values for all types of lease contracts would remain unchanged until further notice: a renewal is processed at 0%, and when a home is re-let the rent in the most recent registered contract for the same property serves as the reference value. The report records the measure as capping increases on renewals at 0% and holding re-let contracts at their preceding value, with ADGM communities excluded; Al Reem Island and Al Maryah Island fall under ADGM. In June, the first month under the freeze, new-lease price growth eased to 0.5% for apartments while villas held flat. Rashed Al Omaira, Director General of ADREC, wrote in the report: "One month is not a trend, and it is too early to attribute that movement to one measure. We will review the measure against the data, not the calendar, and respond where the evidence requires it."
Where the leases are
By district, the largest lease values in the first half were Al Danah at AED 2.48 billion, Al Reem Island at 1.58 billion, Mohamed Bin Zayed City at 1.49 billion, Khalifa City at 1.33 billion, Al Zahiyah at 1.21 billion and Al Raha at 1.20 billion, with Saadiyat Island at 0.67 billion and Yas Island at 0.48 billion. Villas tell a different story from apartments: over the last twelve months 51% of villa and townhouse lease value came from five districts, Khalifa City, Mohamed Bin Zayed City, Yas Island, Saadiyat Island and Al Muntazah, and on Yas Island villa leases (AED 0.26 billion) were worth more than apartment leases (0.22 billion). Inside the investment zones, 45% of apartment lease value is now above AED 1,000 per square metre a year and 58% of villa lease value is above AED 800 per square metre. The report's project snapshots give average annual rents of about AED 700 to 1,500 per square metre across the Yas Island projects listed, AED 800 to 1,900 on Saadiyat Island and AED 800 to 1,400 on Al Reem Island; the report notes that these averages move with the mix of homes leased in each period.
Supply now and to 2030
The emirate had about 409,000 homes in the first half of 2026, 64% of them apartments, and 79% of the stock sits in Abu Dhabi Region. Within the region, 22% of homes, about 72,000, are in the investment zones, led by Al Reem Island with about 27,500, then Al Raha, Yas Island and Saadiyat Island; Yas Island counts 6,031 apartments and 3,800 villas and townhouses. About 71,000 more homes are projected across the emirate by 2030; in Abu Dhabi Region, about 67,500 of them, with deliveries peaking at about 21,800 in 2028. In Abu Dhabi Region, 77% of the additions are expected in six districts: Saadiyat Island (14,631 homes), Al Reem Island (13,518), Yas Island (11,815), Zayed City, Khalifa City and Al Hidayriyyat Island, and 75% of the projected apartments are in Saadiyat, Al Reem and Yas alone. The report says these figures come from registered projects, inspection reports and active building permits and may change as new ones are recorded.
The sales side in one paragraph
Residential unit sales reached AED 70.4 billion in the first half, against AED 25.3 billion a year earlier. Off-plan homes made up 89% of sales value and 82% of deals, and 61% of ready-market purchases were paid in cash. Foreign buyers, resident and non-resident, accounted for 70% of sales value; foreign direct investment was AED 13.8 billion from non-resident buyers of 116 nationalities, and Emirati buyers committed AED 21.0 billion against AED 8.9 billion a year earlier. By district, Al Hidayriyyat Island led with AED 19.0 billion, Saadiyat Island recorded AED 13.3 billion (up 63%) and Yas Island AED 7.3 billion (up 91%). Our 26 September story covered ADREC's separate transaction report, which counted AED 117 billion of all transactions and AED 86 billion of sales including land and commercial property.
What Al Mithaq adds
We sell Aldar homes in Abu Dhabi from Kuwait. Yas Riva Reserve is a gated village of 292 villas on Yas Island, from AED 7.9 million, with handover in the third quarter of 2030, the service charge waived for five years and the 2% registration fee waived; it sits in the investment zone counted above, where villa leases on Yas are worth more than apartment leases. Sei on Saadiyat Island is beside the museums. Our project page lists every villa type with its size, plot and price, and before you reserve, our team asks Aldar for the registered rents of comparable completed homes in the same community so that your letting sums rest on Tawtheeq contracts, not estimates.
Sources
- Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) press release, 18 August 2026: ADREC releases the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Market Report for H1 2026, opened 14 October 2026
- ADREC, Abu Dhabi Real Estate Market Report H1 2026 (PDF): executive summary pages 16 to 18, supply pages 26 to 36, sales pages 42 to 49, residential leases pages 77 to 81
- Gulf Today, 2 June 2026: No rent increases for new or renewed leases in Abu Dhabi (ADREC announcement)
- Al Mithaq, Yas Riva Reserve project page
