Abu Dhabi’s office and industrial markets are showing signs of growth, with a rebound in rents already underway, Invest-Gate reports.

According to global real estate consultancy, Knight Frank, office rents in three out of the six prime office submarkets monitored by Knight Frank experienced growth ranging from 3.5% to 12% during 2022.

This turnaround is attributed to the rebound in economic growth and the increase in employment levels.

Faisal Durrani, the Partner and Head of Middle East Research, Knight Frank, says: “While Abu Dhabi’s office market has been slower to recover from the pandemic when compared to neighboring Dubai, rapid economic expansion – estimated at 8.8% last year – has significantly contributed the change in the fortunes of the office market.”

“This, combined with an uplift in job creation rates has started to filter through in the form of new office demand,” he states.

“This, combined with an uplift in job creation rates has started to filter through in the form of new office demand,” he states.

While this figure is still shy of pre-pandemic levels, by the end of 2023, 1.32 million people are expected to be working in the capital, eclipsing pre-pandemic levels, it states.

Knight Frank points out that the picture in Abu Dhabi’s industrial market was more stable, with warehouse rents in the six main markets remaining unchanged during 2022.