Short answer
Off-plan in Abu Dhabi is regulated. Buyers' payments go into project escrow accounts that developers can only draw on as construction is certified, sales are registered with the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC), and brokers must be licensed. The risks are market risk and picking the wrong project, not losing your deposit to an unregulated seller.
The protections
- Escrow: Abu Dhabi law requires off-plan payments to go into a project escrow account.
- Registration: every sale is registered on DARI, so ownership is recorded.
- Licensing: developers and brokers are licensed by ADREC.
The real risks
- Prices can fall as well as rise.
- Handover dates can move.
- Selling before handover may be restricted until a set share of the price is paid.
- Advice is only as good as the data behind it. Ask your broker for resale comparables, not just launch brochures.
“Never sell something to someone that you wouldn't sell to me. (Mitch's mum's rule, which he works to.)”
General information, not financial advice. Figures attributed to Mitch come from transactions he tracks.