Dubai and Abu Dhabi are jockeying to become the United Arab Emirates鈥 (UAE) top luxury property market amid increasing demand from Chinese buyers, according to agents.
While Dubai was way ahead in terms of popularity, Abu Dhabi was increasingly finding favour with investors owing to its value proposition, according to Juwai IQI, a real estate broker with more than US$4 trillion in property listings globally on its platform.
鈥淒ubai and Abu Dhabi are similar markets in terms of product and lifestyle, but Dubai has had years to turn itself into a global investment destination, while Abu Dhabi is still little known,鈥 said Kashif Ansari, Juwai IQI鈥檚 co-founder and group CEO. 鈥淎bu Dhabi began courting foreign investors relatively recently, since about 2019. Over the long term, we foresee Abu Dhabi becoming just as successful at attracting international property investment as Dubai.鈥
Inquiries from prospective Chinese buyers for property across the UAE rose by 125 per cent quarter on quarter in the first three months of the year, and 29 per cent year on year, according to Juwai IQI.
鈥淎t least four out of five inquiries from China are for Dubai property compared with one in five for Abu Dhabi,鈥 Ansari said. 鈥淏uyers feel Dubai is a trusted and well-understood market and many don鈥檛 yet know Abu Dhabi.鈥
With foreigners owning about 43 per cent of homes in Dubai compared with about 5 per cent in Abu Dhabi, the latter has room to grow, he added.
Sales of homes in Dubai worth more than 10 million dirhams (US$2.7 million) jumped tenfold to 4,670 in 2024 compared with 2020, according to data tracked by Savills. In the first quarter of this year, 1,300 such homes changed hands, up 31 per cent from a year ago, the property consultancy added.
Chinese buyers accounted for 14 per cent of Dubai property sales so far this year, up from 13 per cent a year earlier, Savills said.
A separate report by Knight Frank tracking 12 major global markets showed that Dubai led in both value and number of deals for homes priced above US$10 million in the first quarter of 2025. A total of 111 deals worth US$1.9 billion were recorded, it said.
鈥淒ubai鈥檚 prime residential market continues to attract high-net-worth individuals seeking space, privacy and superior lifestyle quality,鈥 said Andrew Cummings, head of residential agency at Savills Middle East. 鈥淭his is particularly evident in the consistent demand for luxury villas and branded residences.鈥
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi, the UAE鈥檚 capital, had 352 listings of homes valued at US$1 million or more, compared with 343 in Dubai, according to data from Bloom Holding, a UAE developer.
Seven of the top 10 areas with the highest price growth were also in Abu Dhabi, Bloom said.
Abu Dhabi鈥檚 potential has attracted Hong Kong-based Gaw Capital, which spent more than US$150 million last month on a residential building in the city. The property is one of seven residential buildings at the low-density Mamsha Gardens project on Saadiyat Island, the city鈥檚 cultural district and home to Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Residential investment zones in Abu Dhabi were seeing double-digit price and rental growth, according to Cushman & Wakefield Core.
Gross apartment yields were around 7.2 per cent, according to David Abood, head of capital markets and co-CEO at the property consultancy. Suburban villas were also drawing attention due to shifting end-user preferences, he added.
Foreign investors bought more than US$2 billion of real estate in Abu Dhabi in 2024 鈥 a 125 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Juwai IQI. China was among the top sources of capital, along with the US, UK, France, Kazakhstan and Russia, the firm said.
鈥淒espite Dubai鈥檚 lead, Abu Dhabi is gaining quickly,鈥 Juwai IQI鈥檚 Ansari said.
While the Middle East was facing heightened geopolitical tensions following attacks by Israel and the US on Iran and the latter鈥檚 retaliation in recent days, Ansari said that he did not foresee any long-term impact on the UAE鈥檚 property market.
鈥淭he UAE has friends on all sides and is a haven that actually attracts regional investment in times of conflict,鈥 he said.
The UAE was ranked the Middle East鈥檚 most competitive economy, according to a report in December by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development.