Abu Dhabi real estate investment: my top 3 areas

Where to invest in Abu Dhabi in 2026: my personal top 3 areas, in a market that did AED 117 billion of property transactions in six months. Most of the attention in the UAE goes to Dubai, and many people overlook the capital. In the first half of 2026, real estate transactions in Abu Dhabi reached AED 117 billion, around 112% more than a year earlier. That figure counts all transactions, mortgages included. Sales alone were AED 86.1 billion. It is still a young market for international buyers. Foreigners could fully own property in designated areas only from 2019. I'm Liliia Mavliutova, a practising real estate broker in the UAE. This is my own ranking. No. 3 Yas Island. The infrastructure already works: Ferrari World, Warner Bros, SeaWorld, the Formula One circuit, Etihad Arena. Around 38 million visits in 2024 and 15% more in summer 2025. No. 2 Hudayriyat Island. Most of it is still being built, yet residential sales reached AED 19 billion in the first half of 2026, around 27% of all residential sales in Abu Dhabi. No. 1 ADGM, on Al Maryah and Al Reem islands. Abu Dhabi's international financial center: around 49,000 people worked there by mid-2026, 34% more than a year earlier. Those people need homes close to work. Also in the video: why office space in ADGM is a separate strategy how residential and commercial property work differently there what I check before any specific purchase A ranking is not a property check. Growth across the emirate says nothing about the price of one apartment. Most Hudayriyat homes are years away from handover, and Disneyland, the Harry Potter area and Sphere on Yas are announced, not open yet. Numbers: ADREC, Miral, ADGM. Chapters: 00:00 Why look at Abu Dhabi, not only Dubai 00:16 AED 117 billion in six months 00:33 Why the market is growing 01:21 No. 3 Yas Island: what already works 02:01 Formula One and what is planned on Yas 02:37 No. 2 Hudayriyat Island: still being built 03:21 Hudayriyat: AED 19 billion of sales 04:18 No. 1 ADGM: Al Maryah and Al Reem 04:44 Why financial companies choose ADGM 05:41 ADGM in numbers: 49,000 people 06:10 Office space as a second strategy 06:29 Why ADGM is my No. 1 07:10 The ranking, briefly 07:34 What to check before any purchase Abu Dhabi on the map, island by island:    • Abu Dhabi map explained - Which areas will...   Message me on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/971585881160?text=Hello... Book a consultation: https://calendly.com/mavliutova-re/30min Footage credited under its license: Wikimedia Commons: Ayratayrat (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped. View from Hudayriat Bridge5.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Wikimedia Commons: Groman123 (CC BY-SA 2.0), cropped. Abu Dhabi night skyline (37001006072) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Flickr: lam_chihang (CC BY 2.0), cropped. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi 2 https://flic.kr/p/nMzDBD Flickr: Roebot (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped. The Galleria Al Maryah Island https://flic.kr/p/2rKmdR9 Maps: Google Maps, ©2026 Google Also in the video: footage from Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay, Flickr (CC0), NASA images via Wikimedia Commons, and Envato Elements. #AbuDhabi #AbuDhabiRealEstate #RealEstateInvestment #UAE