Abu Dhabi has been named the world’s most improved real estate market in JLL and LaSalle Investment Management’s 2026 Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI), climbing eight places from 41st in 2024 to 33rd globally, with a composite score of 2.42. The 14th edition of the biennial index, published September 28, evaluated 88 countries and 146 city markets across 260 factors.
The improvement is credited to the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre’s (ADREC) digital overhaul: publicly accessible dashboards for real-time property and market data, interactive maps showing unit-level transactions and service charges, and open APIs for data integration. ADREC Director General Rashed Al Omaira said the progress was “built on stronger governance, investor protection and better access to trusted market information,” adding that the agency’s next phase would focus on using AI to turn that data into “earlier insight on demand, risk and performance,” with an ambition to place Abu Dhabi among the world’s 25 most transparent markets by 2030.
JLL’s regional leadership framed the ranking as directly relevant to capital flows: Mouhammad Takieddin, JLL’s Middle East and Africa CEO, said “capital flows where there is clarity, strong digital infrastructure, and reliable data,” while James Allan, JLL’s UAE, Egypt and Africa country CEO, said the emirate’s stricter governance and reliable data give institutional investors the confidence to make long-term decisions. Globally, GRETI found transaction volumes in “highly transparent” markets rose 64% over the past two years, capturing more than 80% of direct real estate investment worldwide.
For foreign buyers weighing an Abu Dhabi purchase, the practical takeaway is data access rather than price: public dashboards and unit-level transaction records make it easier to verify service charges and comparable sales before committing, which JLL’s report frames as the main driver separating “highly transparent” markets from the rest.
References
Zawya – Abu Dhabi named world’s leading improver in JLL’s 2026 Global Real Estate Transparency Index
