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Dubai ranks 17th globally for property market transparency; Abu Dhabi is the most improved

In JLL and LaSalle's 2026 Global Real Estate Transparency Index, Dubai climbs 11 places to 17th, first in the Arab world, and Abu Dhabi rises eight places to 33rd as the world's leading improver.

OffPlan Insider NewsdeskNews
Published 1 min read

Dubai now ranks 17th in the world and first in the Arab world for real estate transparency, according to the 2026 Global Real Estate Transparency Index from JLL and LaSalle. It has climbed 11 places in two years, from 28th in 2024. Abu Dhabi rose eight places to 33rd and was named the index's leading improver worldwide.

01The rankings

Market2026 rank2024 rankScore
Dubai17th28th1.98
Abu Dhabi33rd41st2.42

A lower score means a more transparent market. The index covers 88 countries and territories and is published every two years. The United Kingdom ranks first.

Dubai sits ahead of Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Norway and South Korea in the 2026 edition.

02What moved the scores

  • Dubai: JLL credits the Dubai Land Department's real-time, publicly available sales data, the Mollak system that makes service charges visible, the Dubai REST platform and the use of blockchain in property registration.
  • Abu Dhabi: the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) launched public dashboards with live market data, interactive maps showing unit-level transactions and service charges, and open data access for other systems.

03Why it matters for buyers

Transparency is what lets an off-plan buyer check a purchase independently: what similar homes actually sold for, what the service charge is, and whether a project and its escrow account are registered. In both emirates much of that can now be checked online before you pay a deposit. Our guide to how we verify projects explains what we check and where.

SourcesWhere this story comes from.

Sources

  1. JLL: Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2026, September 2026
  2. Emirates 24|7: Dubai real estate ranks 17th globally for transparency in 2026, up 11 places in two years, 16 September 2026
  3. Khaleej Times: Abu Dhabi named world's most improved real estate market for transparency, 28 September 2026

Corrections

  • No corrections to this story. If something has changed or is wrong, tell us and we will correct it and log the change here.

3 Oct 2026, 19:13 GST · Reported by OffPlan Insider Newsdesk, checked against the developer's own material before publication.

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