Al Maryah Island: the register, and a contradiction worth resolving before you buy

What do apartments on Al Maryah Island cost? The Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre records an average of AED 36,000 per square metre and a maximum of AED 92,000. That is the third-highest average of any district in the emirate, behind Saadiyat at AED 42,000 and Fahid Island at AED 40,000.

Before the price, though, there is a prior question here that does not arise on the other islands.

Two official sources, two different answers

The federal government portal lists “Mariya” among the areas of Abu Dhabi where foreign nationals may own real estate.

The island’s own official site says something else. Under Investing in Al Maryah Island, it states:

Both UAE and GCC nationals can purchase freehold land on the island. At the same time, non-UAE and GCC ownership is a right of leasehold of 99 years, renewable for an additional 99 years.

Freehold and a 99-year lease are not variations of the same thing. One is ownership without end; the other is a long right of use that expires, is renewable, and behaves differently on resale, on inheritance and on financing.

We cannot resolve the contradiction from public sources, and we are not going to pick whichever answer sounds better. Two things are worth noting about the island’s wording, and neither settles it:

It appears in a passage aimed at developers. The same paragraph invites developers to “contact our plot sales” team, so it is describing land plots. Whether the same rule governs an individual apartment in a completed tower is not stated.

It is the island’s own publication. That makes it a strong source about the island, and it is more specific than the federal list, which names areas rather than describing what form ownership takes in each.

What to do with this. Ask the seller or the developer, in writing, whether the title you are being offered is freehold or a 99-year leasehold, and have your conveyancer read the title document rather than the brochure. On most Abu Dhabi islands that is a formality. Here it is the question.

The district with no villas at all

Al Maryah and Fahid Island are the only two of the fifteen districts in the ADREC report with no villa or townhouse figures whatsoever. Not a thin sample, as on Al Reem, where 29 transactions carry the villa line. None.

That is not a gap in the data. It is what the island is. Al Maryah is roughly 114 hectares of financial district: offices, towers, a hospital, a mall, and residential in the same towers. There is nowhere to put a villa, and the register reflects it.

For a buyer it means the choice here is between apartments, and the comparison set is other towers rather than a mix of products. That is part of why the spread is 2.6× rather than Yas Island’s 4.2×: fewer product types in the same number.

What is being built

Mubadala and Aldar have launched a joint venture to expand the island’s financial district: 1.5 million square metres of new office, residential, retail and hospitality space with a gross development value above AED 60 billion, on almost 500,000 square metres on the northern side.

The stated context is ADGM, Abu Dhabi’s international financial centre, which reports more than 11,000 active licences in the free zone.

We report that because it is announced through the Abu Dhabi Media Office and it is large. We are not going to tell you what it will do to prices. Announced supply and realised prices are different things, and the register we publish covers the first half of 2026, not the future.

Where Al Maryah sits

Third-most expensive on average, third-highest maximum. The full table for all fifteen districts is in our prices guide.

Frequently asked questions

Can foreigners buy on Al Maryah Island?

Foreign nationals can acquire property here. What form that ownership takes is the open question above: the federal portal treats Mariya as an area open to foreign ownership, while the island’s own site describes non-GCC ownership as a 99-year renewable leasehold. Get the answer for your specific unit in writing.

Why are there no villa prices?

Because there are no villas. Al Maryah is a tower district built as a financial centre; it and Fahid Island are the only two districts in the ADREC report with no villa figures at all.

Is Al Maryah expensive?

It has the third-highest apartment average in the emirate at AED 36,000 per square metre, behind Saadiyat at AED 42,000 and Fahid Island at AED 40,000. The recorded maximum of AED 92,000 is the third-highest as well.

What is ADGM?

Abu Dhabi Global Market, the emirate’s international financial centre and a free zone, headquartered on the island. It reports more than 11,000 active licences.

Is it a good place to live?

That is not a question the register answers, and we do not publish lifestyle verdicts. What the data does say is that you will be buying an apartment in a tower, in a district built around offices, with no low-rise alternative on the island.