Abu Dhabi removes tens of thousands of unverified property listings

Outdated, duplicate and inaccurate ads cut in push to improve transparency

The Corniche in Abu Dhabi. Property prices in the UAE capital now have to be verified. Alamy

Thousands of unverified property listings have been taken down after Abu Dhabi launched its first government-regulated Multiple Listing Service, Madhmoun.

An Arabic word for “verified”, Madhmoun has been introduced by the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre to serve as a centralised system for ensuring online property listings are accurate and transparent. This means the removal of any with outdated details, duplicate advertisements or misleading information.

Now, all property listings must go through a verification process, which includes confirmation of ownership, agency, location and size, before it is allowed to go online.

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While the platform went into effect last month, tens of thousands of online listings were taken down only last week. This does not include those located in Reem Island and Al Maryah Island, which come under Abu Dhabi Global Market law, as opposed to Adrec.

'Major milestone'

“Today is one of the biggest days in Abu Dhabi real estate history,” said Ben Crompton, managing partner of Abu Dhabi-based property brokerage Crompton Partners, in a video posted to Instagram.

“The number of listings on Property Finder, Bayut and Dubizzle has been reduced by about 90 per cent,” he said, adding that is equal to about 55,000 listings being removed. While about 20,000 are left, about 15,000 of those on Reem and Al Maryah islands. “It's absolutely incredible. It's a massive change.”

Ben Crompton of Crompton Partners hailed the move as 'a massive change'. Photo: Crompton Partners

Mr Crompton told The National that a grace period was given for historical listings until August 15, but after that any listing that did not have a valid permit was removed.

“The only areas that were exempted were those under the regulatory regime of ADGM [Reem Island and Maryah Island]. We understand that these listings will be removed soon, unless a valid permit is issued for them.”

In the past, property portals were not able to tell which units were available or not, said Mr Crompton. “They relied on the brokers to generate the listings and unscrupulous brokers created listings of properties which had been sold or rented, didn’t exist, or were at a non-existent or old price. The portals did try through various verification processes to clean this up, but with limited success.”

Madhmoun is the first and largest step to address these issues, he added.

Kirill Dolgin, founder and chief executive of property database BrokerDeck, described the launch as a “major milestone” for the UAE real estate market, “especially in terms of data transparency and process clarity”.

“While there are concerns that certain legal restrictions may complicate operations for brokers and agencies, the platform’s API [application programming interface] support and well-designed training system should help ease the transition,” he told The National. “One thing is certain: scammers and fraudsters will become far less common.”

Mr Dolgin said he expects a significant improvement in the quality of property data across the region. “Information should be as accessible as possible. We fully intend to become partners in this initiative, because we’re all working toward the same goal – opening up the Emirates’ real estate market to the world.”

Transformation of market

The introduction of Madhmoun follows a transformation of the Abu Dhabi property market, as more residents than ever settle in by becoming homeowners, and millionaire investors look to the capital for long-term investments.

In a decade, Abu Dhabi’s population has grown by more than half, from 2.7 million in 2014 to more than 4.1 million in 2024.

The highest property price growth in the UAE between 2020 and 2025 was in Abu Dhabi, according analysis by real estate developers Bloom Holding.

The emirate recorded year-on-year growth of 202 per cent in the last five years, with 8,490 properties on sale increasing in value.

Meanwhile, in the first three months of 2025, total real estate transactions in Abu Dhabi grew by 34.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2024, climbing from Dh18.82 billion to Dh25.3 billion.

Figures from the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre showed the number of property deals made in that quarter increased from 5,773 to 6,896.

'Very positive step'

In the lead-up to Madhmoun's launch on July 7, Property Finder, the UAE's leading property portal, rolled out a series of agent training initiatives.

Cherif Sleiman, chief revenue officer at Property Finder, said Madhmoun would ultimately boost Abu Dhabi's status as a leading real estate hub.

“We will continue to play an active role in supporting industry stakeholders and home-seekers, as Abu Dhabi undergoes a transformation aimed at elevating trust and transparency in the real estate sector,” he said.

Abu Dhabi's property market is witnessing a boom. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

Abu Dhabi-based homeowner Ryaan Sharif also hailed the move as a “very positive step”.

“By ensuring that only government-approved listings appear online, it eliminates a lot of the noise created by agents posting fake or duplicate properties just to prospect for clients,” he told The National.

“This not only protects buyers and sellers from misleading advertisements, but also saves everyone valuable time by allowing them to focus only on real, verified opportunities. Ultimately, it creates a more transparent and trustworthy market, which strengthens the value of owning property in Abu Dhabi.”