Keeping in mind that housing in Abu Dhabi can easily cost somewhere around Dhs 350,000 annually, or about USD 100,000. That's right. A 1 with five zeroes after it.
One. Hundred. Thousand. Dollars.
And it's all paid with one check up front.
Now that you've had a chance to catch your breath, I'll try to explain in a little more detail.
First off, there are more people in Abu Dhabi (demand) than there are housing units to accommodate them (supply). Most of us remember (well, those of us who attended class) from Econ 101 what the supply-demand curve looks like. So prices are high, and the market seems to bear it. I'm hopeful my clever economist friends (ok, my one clever economist FRIEND) will corroborate this. The demand in Abu Dhabi this past February was so high that villas were listed and rented within a matter of hours. Hours.
Second, housing doesn't actually have to cost Dhs 350,000. It could cost more. In the winter of 2008-09, a four bedroom villa in Al Raha Gardens (off-island, near Khalifa City A) went for about Dhs 350,000. A three bedroom apartment right in town was about the same. A four bedroom villa in Khalidiya or Bateen, if one could be found, cost more like Dhs 500,000. It was a bad time to move to Abu Dhabi, as rental increases over the past two years were astronomical.
The good news is that they've come down in 2009. Somewhat. This recent article from The National, though, explains that many landlords are still looking for the high prices of last year.
Third, as with pretty much anywhere, the farther you venture out of the city, the cheaper housing gets. And "out of the city" has started to mean "Dubai," thanks to the rental market in Dubai plummeting in the past year. Unfortunately, the commute from Dubai to Abu Dhabi doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me. I haven't actually tried it, and have no plans to.
Finally, the process of shopping for a rental villa or apartment can be pretty maddening. There's no multiple listing service in Abu Dhabi, the same ads seem to crop up all the time, and the few real estate agent websites are updated on an irregular basis at best. So you need an agent who is well-connected and ready to spring on what is available. You also need (with most agents) to be prepared to fork over that deposit check right smartly -- my experience this past March involved multiple unreturned phone calls and emails when the agents I spoke to found out I was "just looking" and not ready to sign on the dotted line.
All that said, the good news is that rentals appear to be dropping, particularly in compounds off the island, and that villas in highly sought-after areas like Khalidiya Village have actually become available for the first time in years.
With the caveats mentioned above, here are the best sites I've come across for sussing out the property rental scene in Abu Dhabi:
Oh, I should mention that the last two never bothered replying to my emails.
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