As per market condition, Abu Dhabi is performing quite well as compared to Dubai. According to some experts the Abu Dhabi market has bottomed out and the chances are that the prices will see upward trend in coming years. While some other analysts are of the view that the market will face a double dip recession and prices will fall. So, one cannot say with certainty about the future of real estate market, experts and analyst can only predict future trend.
Whatever the case is, villas are currently considered as best performers in the market. If I was planning to buy a villa, I would definitely go for it as it is the best time to invest in villas.
To add to what what Abdul has mentioned, now is a decent time to invest as even if the prices fall more, they are not expected to decline by a maximum of 10% or so.
Average residential asking prices have dropped 49% to 11,000 dirhams a square meter, from a peak of 21,500 dirhams in 2008. However the supply and demand are pretty much neck to neck in Abu Dhabi and as long as they can maintain this equation the prices are likely to remain stagnant.
As per the research conducted by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, the residential supply of units in Abu Dhabi by 2013 is expected to be around 251,000 units and demand is likely to be 277,500 units. So we can clearly see that the prices will remain stagnant for sometime. There will be no quick returns and its a long-term investment market. However the point to note is that the rental returns in Abu Dhabi are still pretty high around 8-10% which indicates that its a good investment market.
Lastly, the government is planning to scale down the investment in the real estate sector in the future, which is a good sign as the government tends to invest more in tourism and other sectors. This in-turn will ensure that the demand remains a little higher than supply thus solidifying the market further and making it more attractive for investors.
Hope this helps and all the best with your investment.