Hudayriyat Buyers: Who Is Actually Buying, by the Numbers

Who is buying Hudayriyat, and is it hot money that will run at handover? Mostly not. In 2026, Hudayriyat buyers came from 106 nationalities, according to ADREC, Abu Dhabi’s real estate regulator. Their buyer base also spread out faster in one year than in any of the other eight markets I compared, going back to 2020. The foreign money bought from the developer, not from owners trying to leave. And passports bought through investment schemes make up a smaller share here than on Saadiyat.

There are two catches, though. First, the plots are where most resales happen. Second, the buyer base got narrower in 2026 once you take Emiratis out. British buyers now carry more than a fifth of all non-Emirati money.

This is the good-news article in my Hudayriyat series. Even so, it follows the same rules as the rest, so both halves are here. For the wider picture, read my Hudayriyat Island investment review.

The key numbers at a glance

Every figure below comes from ADREC data, rebuilt from raw rows. The 2026 figures run from 1 January to 14 August 2026.

Who Hudayriyat buyers actually are

ADREC publishes sales by nationality for every district and year on its interactive map. In ADREC’s register, the Hudayriyat district holds a single community, the island itself. So the figures below cover the whole island and nothing else.

From one dominant nationality to 106

In its first three months of sales, at the end of 2024, Hudayriyat drew 42 nationalities. At that stage Emiratis paid 55.9% of the money. In 2025 the picture barely changed, because Emiratis still paid 54.5%.

Then 2026 changed everything. From January to mid-August, 106 nationalities bought on the island. Meanwhile, the Emirati share of value fell to 23.7%. In other words, the island went from a mostly Emirati market in 2025 to a mostly non-Emirati one in 2026.

How the concentration score works

The clearest way to track this is a concentration score called the HHI. First, you take each nationality’s share of the money. Then you square each share and add them up. If one nationality paid for everything, the score is 10,000. So the lower the score, the more widely the money is spread.

Hudayriyat’s score went from 3,265 in 2024, to 3,098 in 2025, to 1,042 in 2026.

That is a 66% fall in a single year. Across the nine Abu Dhabi markets I checked, going back to 2020, no market fell further in one year. Two came close, though. Saadiyat fell 62% in 2024, and Fahid fell 60% in 2026. So Hudayriyat moved fastest, but it did not move alone.

Where Hudayriyat sits among its peers

Here is every market in the comparison for 2026, from the most spread out to the least.

Market, 2026	Nationalities	Concentration score	Emirati share of value
Ghantout	51	511	10.7%
Fahid Island	71	554	13.7%
Reem Island	116	586	12.8%
Saadiyat Island	102	597	10.6%
Yas Island	116	731	20.6%
Hudayriyat Island	106	1,042	23.7%
Zayed City (mainland)	50	2,529	45.7%
Ramhan Island	39	2,634	50.2%
Jubail Island	36	3,407	57.2%

Zayed City and Ghantout are not islands, but I include them as peer markets. As a result, Hudayriyat is now broader than three markets and narrower than five. It sits closer to Yas than to Saadiyat.

Hudayriyat buyers from new nationalities brought real money

One more measure supports the good-news reading. 10.7% of Hudayriyat’s 2026 value came from nationalities that did not buy there in 2024. By comparison, the same figure is 0.5% on Yas, 0.8% on Reem and 3.9% on Saadiyat.

Still, treat that with care. Hudayriyat’s 2024 covers only three months of sales, so fewer nationalities had a chance to appear. Even so, it cuts against the idea that only the early nationalities kept buying.

Hudayriyat foreign investors: the hot-money tests

“Hot money” means buyers who arrive fast, trade fast and leave at the first sign of trouble. No single test can catch it, so I ran three.

Test one: passports bought through investment

Some buyers hold a second passport that they bought through an investment scheme. I use their share as one rough signal of fast-moving money.

For this test I used two lists. The first holds nine scheme countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Comoros, Cyprus, Dominica, Grenada, Malta, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and Vanuatu. The second list removes Cyprus and Malta. Cyprus closed its scheme in 2020. Then the EU Court of Justice ruled Malta’s scheme unlawful on 29 April 2025. Also, both are EU member states, so many people holding those passports are ordinary citizens.

Market, 2026	Nine schemes	Seven schemes
Ramhan	8.67%	5.22%
Saadiyat	6.94%	2.87%
Ghantout	6.57%	6.23%
Fahid	3.64%	2.47%
Jubail	2.47%	0.49%
Reem	1.88%	1.67%
Hudayriyat	1.84%	1.36%
Yas	1.77%	1.23%
Zayed City	0.66%	0.48%

On either list, Hudayriyat’s share is less than half of Saadiyat’s. It also sits close to Yas and Reem. On the nine-country list, it fell from a peak of 3.56% in 2025. However, read these figures as a signal, not a measurement. A passport tells you how someone holds citizenship, not why they bought.

Test two: did foreign money buy from the developer or from owners?

Suppose early buyers were cashing out to foreign newcomers. In that case, foreign money would show up strongly in resales. It does not.

ADREC’s foreign direct investment series shows AED 4,450m of foreign money buying from the developer in 2026, against AED 117m buying from existing owners. That means 97.4% went to the developer. Put another way, foreign money made up 23.7% of developer sales but only 8.6% of resales.

Reem, Yas and Saadiyat, the three islands with the largest resale markets in 2026, show the same pattern. So it reflects how launches usually sell. Jubail is the clear exception, at 3.7% of developer sales against 11.0% of resales. Zayed City leans the same way only slightly, and Fahid recorded a single resale.

One warning applies here. ADREC does not say how it defines foreign direct investment. Also, in 2026 the series covered only about a third of all non-Emirati buying on the island. So the safest reading is simple. The foreign money went overwhelmingly to the developer, and it added little demand for resales.

Test three: which Hudayriyat buyers take the resales?

A resale before handover is the sale of a contract, not a finished home. I explain how that works, using a Dubai example, in my guide to selling off-plan before handover.

Across the island’s sales to August 2026, non-Emirati nationals bought 74% of resale value, or AED 1,023m of AED 1,386m. At first glance that sounds foreign. But ADREC’s foreign investment series accounts for only about 11% of it.

So if that series tracks non-residents, as it appears to, most resale buyers are foreign nationals who already live in the UAE. In short, on that reading, the resale bid is mostly resident money, not offshore money.

What the money bought

Where buyers come from is only half the story. What they bought is the other half. And Modon Hudayriyat buyers bought very different things.

Half of Hudayriyat buyers’ money sits in the biggest villas

Here is how the developer’s 4,902 sales, worth AED 35.05bn, split by product.

Product	Share of units	Share of value	Resales	Resale share
5 to 6+ bed villas	24.5%	50.6%	26	2.12%
3 to 4 bed villas	22.5%	23.8%	54	4.67%
Wadeem plots	34.3%	16.3%	143	7.83%
Apartments	15.9%	7.6%	4	0.51%
Townhouses	2.8%	1.7%	5	3.57%

In other words, half of the island’s money sits in its largest villas, and those have barely traded. By contrast, the plots hold 16.3% of the value but produced 143 of the island’s 232 resales, or 62%.

Resale pace, measured at the same age

However, a raw resale share can mislead. Younger projects have simply had less time to resell. So here are the five communities from my earlier review, each measured against every comparable Abu Dhabi off-plan project at the same age.

Community	Age	Resale pace against peers the same age
Nawayef West B	22.3 months	0.6 times, slower
Al Naseem	21.7 months	0.4 times, slower
Nawayef Village (townhouses and villas)	11.9 months	1.7 times faster
Bashayer Villas Phase 1	10.8 months	4.3 times faster
Wadeem plots	10.1 months	3.5 times faster

The two oldest villa communities resell well below the normal pace for their age. Two mid-age communities outside that table also resold slowly. In an earlier test with a slightly different peer rule, Nawayef East B and Nawayef Park Views both resold at about half the peer pace. In contrast, the plots and the two younger communities in the table resell faster. So “sticky capital” describes the island’s older villa money, not all of it.

Hudayriyat buyers from different countries buy different things

This finding matters most for anyone who talks about “the Hudayriyat buyer” as one person.

Across the island’s sales to August 2026, Emiratis put 31.9% of their money into plots, while British buyers put in just 1.5%. Instead, British buyers put 92.3% into villas and townhouses. Also, 18.1% of their purchases were homes with six or more bedrooms. Jordanian buyers put 19.4% of their money into plots, and Egyptian buyers put in 33.6%.

As a result, the plots, where most trading happens, are close to an Emirati and Arab market. Emiratis hold about two thirds of the island’s plot value. Add buyers from other Arab nationalities, such as Jordan, Egypt and Syria, and the figure is close to nine in ten. The villas, on the other hand, draw on everyone, Emiratis included. But they are where almost all British money goes.

So any statement about Hudayriyat buyers that ignores this split is wrong.

Weighing a Hudayriyat villa against a plot? The buyers behind each one differ, and so does the resale record. Read both before you choose.

Hudayriyat nationalities: the weak spot inside the spread

This is the half of the story that the headline number hides. A single figure often hides two markets, as it did in my analysis of JVC’s 2026 sales fall.

Hudayriyat buyers without the Emiratis

Now run the same concentration score on non-Emirati Hudayriyat buyers only. Hudayriyat’s score went 731 in 2024, 599 in 2025, and 823 in 2026.

In other words, it went up. Among foreign nationals, the buyer base got narrower in 2026. So the big fall in the headline score came from the Emirati share dropping, not from foreign money spreading out.

Also, 823 is the highest score of the seven islands in the comparison. Across all nine markets, only Zayed City scores higher, at 1,485.

Market, 2026	Score, non-Emirati buyers only	Largest non-Emirati nationality
Ramhan	445	St Kitts and Nevis
Yas	488	United Kingdom
Fahid	492	United Kingdom
Ghantout	498	Egypt
Reem	555	India
Saadiyat	607	Russia
Jubail	738	United Kingdom
Hudayriyat	823	United Kingdom
Zayed City	1,485	India

[Place image here: Exhibit 4, hudayriyat-buyers-who-is-buying-exhibit-4-foreign-base-concentration.jpg]

Exhibit 4. Among non-Emirati buyers, Hudayriyat is the most concentrated island, and it narrowed in 2026.

One country carries more than a fifth

British Hudayriyat buyers paid 5.4% of the island’s value in 2024. By 2026 they paid 17.2%. That equals 22.5% of all non-Emirati money, or more than one dirham in five.

Their spending from January to mid-August 2026 was 5.7 times their spending in all of 2025. Over the same period, the island’s total grew 1.6 times. For comparison, in 2024 the largest foreign group was Jordanian, with 17.5% of non-Emirati money.

As a result, any change that hits British buyers in particular would hit Hudayriyat harder than Yas or Reem. That is a single-source risk, and it is worth stress testing across your portfolio.

Saadiyat eased from a similar level

Saadiyat offers a useful comparison. In 2024 its non-Emirati score was 850, with Russian buyers at 24.9% of non-Emirati money. By 2026 the score had fallen to 607.

So a concentration like this can ease as a market matures. However, that is an observation about one island, not a forecast for this one.

Who sells to whom among Abu Dhabi property buyers

The register records who bought each home. It does not record who sold. Because of that, everything below about sellers comes from the buying side.

Emiratis lean to launches, expatriates lean to resales

Across the island’s whole history, Emiratis paid 38.1% of the money spent buying from the developer, but only 26.2% of the money spent on resales. No other nationality shows a bigger gap.

Emiratis are still the largest group of resale buyers. Even so, the simplest reading is that some resales pass from Emirati owners to expatriates who live in the UAE. Still, the register cannot confirm this, because it records no sellers.

British, Jordanian and Canadian buyers lean into resales

British buyers paid 18.6% of resale money against 11.4% of developer sales, a gap of 7.2 points. Jordanian buyers come next, at 12.4% against 6.6%. Then come Canadian buyers, at 4.7% against 2.1%.

If some of that British, Jordanian or Canadian resale buying comes from non-residents, it is one possible route for an early owner to sell to offshore money. Even so, that route cannot be large. All foreign direct investment into Hudayriyat resales in 2026 came to AED 117m.

What this does and does not prove

Good evidence has limits, and these limits matter as much as the findings.

What the evidence supports

The money behind Hudayriyat now comes from far more nationalities than it did. It also relies less on investment passports than Saadiyat does. Meanwhile, the foreign money that arrived in 2026 bought new homes from the developer. Most resale buyers appear to live in the UAE. Finally, half the value sits in large villas, and the older villa communities resell slowly for their age.

Where the evidence on Hudayriyat buyers stops

No home on the island has been handed over yet, and every Hudayriyat sale in ADREC’s register is off-plan. So every test above measures Hudayriyat buyers before handover. A low resale rate shows how owners behaved while paying instalments. It does not show what they will do when the final payment falls due. That is why off-plan and ready homes behave so differently.

Also, ADREC’s financing series covers 5,080 Hudayriyat sales, and not one used a bank loan. That is common for Abu Dhabi off-plan today, where buyers pay through a payment plan. So on ADREC’s financing data, no bank has yet lent against a home on the island.

The verdict on Hudayriyat buyers

The buyer base is the best thing Hudayriyat has going for it. Overall, it is broad. It also carries less passport money than Saadiyat, and its resale buyers appear to be mostly UAE residents.

On the other hand, it leans on one foreign nationality more than any of the other six islands in the comparison do. And it has not yet faced its real test. That test arrives with the keys.

If you are about to sign, start with the five questions to ask before buying off-plan.

Frequently asked questions

Who is buying property on Hudayriyat Island?

In 2026, buyers from 106 nationalities, according to ADREC. Emiratis paid 23.7% of the value, down from 55.9% in 2024. British buyers paid 17.2%, followed by Indian and Jordanian buyers. Across all sales to date, Emiratis lean toward plots, while British buyers put 92.3% of their money into villas and townhouses.

Are Hudayriyat buyers mostly foreign investors?

Most are foreign nationals, but many appear to live in the UAE. Non-Emirati nationals paid 76.3% of 2026 value. However, ADREC’s foreign investment series, which appears to track non-residents, covered only about a third of that. In resales, it covers about 11% of non-Emirati buying.

Is Hudayriyat hot money or long-term capital?

Mostly longer-term, on the tests available. The passport-scheme share is less than half of Saadiyat’s, and 97.4% of foreign investment bought from the developer. Also, the oldest villa communities resell slowly for their age. The plots are the exception, and no test has yet run through a handover.

Which nationality buys the most on Hudayriyat?

Emiratis, who paid 23.7% of 2026 value. British buyers come second at 17.2%, which equals 22.5% of all non-Emirati money. As a result, Hudayriyat’s non-Emirati buyer base is the most concentrated of the seven islands in this comparison. One country, the United Kingdom, carries more than a fifth of it.

Do Hudayriyat buyers use mortgages?

Not on ADREC’s financing data. Its series covers 5,080 Hudayriyat sales, and not one used a bank loan. All are recorded as cash purchases, as is typical of developer payment plans. Saadiyat and Reem off-plan sales also showed no bank loans in 2026.

How dependent is Hudayriyat on British buyers?

More than any of the other six islands in the comparison. British buyers paid 22.5% of all non-Emirati money on Hudayriyat in 2026, up from 12.3% in 2024. By contrast, the largest foreign group on Yas held 12.0%. So a fall in British demand would hit Hudayriyat harder than its peers.

What does the HHI concentration score measure?

It measures how spread out the buying money is. You square each nationality’s share of value and add the results, so one nationality alone scores 10,000. Lower means broader. Hudayriyat scored 1,042 in 2026 for all buyers, and 823 once Emiratis are removed from the count.

Data through August 2026.

Sources: ADREC nationality sales by district and year, foreign direct investment by sale sequence, and financing series, via the ADREC interactive map and ADREC dashboard; ADREC line-level transaction register, 119,511 rows, also published through Dari. Scheme status: Cyprus closed its scheme, per Al Jazeera, 13 October 2020; Malta’s scheme was ruled contrary to EU law, per the Court of Justice of the European Union, 29 April 2025.

If you are looking at Hudayriyat and want to know who really stands behind the market for the home you are considering, and how that home has traded, that is what I do. fahadalkuwari.com.

This article analyses public registers. It describes what buyers bought, not why they bought it, and it identifies no individual. It is not investment advice. Take professional advice on your own circumstances before you sign anything.