Abu Dhabi topped the list of the most improved real estate markets in terms of transparency globally, according to the 2026 Global Real Estate Transparency Index issued by JLL. The Emirate climbed eight places from 41st in 2024 to 33rd globally, achieving a total score of 2.42.
The index includes 88 countries and 146 urban markets, and measures transparency levels across 260 distinct factors.
Rashid Al Omaira, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC), said that Abu Dhabi’s ranking as the most improved market globally in real estate transparency is an important achievement for the emirate and a measure of the progress made by the market.
ADREC has introduced a slew of measures to enhance transparency. This includes publicly accessible market dashboards, interactive maps and open APIs designed to make property data easier to access and analyse. ADREC has now set a target of placing Abu Dhabi among the world’s 25 most transparent real estate markets by 2030.
“Being recognised as the world’s leading improver in real estate transparency is an important achievement for Abu Dhabi and a measure of the progress made across the market,” said Omaira.
However, there are flaws in the system. The findings point to areas where Abu Dhabi will need to make further progress, including the availability of data for alternative real estate sectors such as data centres, life sciences and student housing, where information remains relatively limited.
