AJMAN — Once treated as a commuter suburb for people who worked in Dubai but could not afford to live there, Ajman is now posting some of the sharpest property gains in the United Arab Emirates.

Ajman's real estate market recorded 6,815 property transactions worth more than Dh10.8 billion during the first half of 2026, according to the Ajman Department of Land and Real Estate Regulation, including 5,435 sale transactions with a combined value of Dh7.64 billion and 969 mortgage transactions worth Dh1.88 billion. The highest single sale was recorded in Al Amerah at Dh215 million, while the largest mortgage transaction, worth Dh123.5 million, was registered in Al Yasmeen 1.  

Engineer Omar bin Omair Al Muhairi, Director-General of the department, said the positive results reflected the strength of Ajman's real estate sector and the wide range of investment opportunities available across the emirate, noting that the sector continues to support the emirate's economic growth.

 

Where the money is going

Emirates City was the most actively traded development in the first half of 2026, followed by City Towers and Ajman One. Among neighbourhoods, Al Helio 2 recorded the highest level of trading activity, ahead of Al Helio 1 and Al Zahia. Momentum carried into the third quarter: Ajman recorded Dh1.65 billion across 1,517 deals in July, with Ajman Uptown leading the emirate's most-traded projects.

The rental side tells the same story. The emirate registered 73,472 rental contracts worth roughly $792 million in the first half of 2026, and leasehold contracts reached $393 million in the first quarter alone, up 20 per cent year-on-year.  

 

Bucking the national trend

What makes the numbers notable is the direction of travel elsewhere. Property Finder data showed Al Reem Island and Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and Al Taawun and Al Khan in Sharjah recording the UAE's biggest rental declines in the second quarter of 2026, with Reem and Yas falling 13.3 per cent and 10.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter respectively. Ajman, by contrast, stood out as a hub for affordable housing in the first half, driven by renters hunting better value — demand that produced sharp double-digit rental spikes for studios in centrally located districts such as Al Rashidiya and Al Nuaimiya.

Independent research points the same way. Colliers' UAE Real Estate Market Report for the second quarter found apartment rents down an average of about 2 per cent across the Northern Emirates, with Sharjah recording the largest adjustment at around 4 per cent, while Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain proved more resilient on affordability-driven demand.

The supply squeeze

Part of the price pressure is simple arithmetic. Of an estimated 7,450 residential units due for completion across the Northern Emirates in 2026, Sharjah accounts for 5,450 and Ras Al Khaimah 1,400 — leaving Ajman with just 600. Rising demand against a thin pipeline is what turns affordability into escalation.

 

Why it matters for Pashtun investors

For the large Pashtun business and worker community across the Gulf, Ajman has long been the practical entry point into UAE property: lower tickets, higher yields, and a short drive to Dubai's job market. That entry point is now getting more expensive. Buyers who treated Ajman as the patient option may find the window narrowing — while landlords already holding stock in Al Helio, Al Nuaimiya and Emirates City are seeing the returns.

The caution is the same one applying across the UAE: the wider market is shifting from momentum to maturity, becoming selective rather than falling. Ajman's affordability advantage is real, but it is exactly what the price rises are eroding.