A new report released by Dubai Land Department (DLD) has revealed that Indian nationals were the highest value foreign investors, making AED 20 billion worth of property transactions from 8,756 investors out of 55,928 investors of 150 nationalities made real estate investments in Dubai’s property sector last year.
The British came in at second with a total of AED 10 billion worth of property transactions from 4,889 investors, while Pakistani investments were third with AED 8 billion from 6,106 investors. The report showed that the total value of foreign investment in the Dubai real estate market in the year, which amounted to more than AED 74 billion from 35,165 investors. The real estate investment transactions for 2015 exceeded AED 135 billion.
The report issued by its Real Estate Research and Studies Department noted that Arab investors from outside the GCC’s contribution to the real estate market last year reached more than AED 16 billion, with 8,325 individuals of 16 nationalities making investments. DLD’s report revealed that Jordanian investors ranked highest, with 1,516 investors pumping in more than AED 3.5 billion.
They were followed by 1,390 citizens of Egypt who invested a total of AED 2.55 billion and 1,066 Lebanese investors with a total amount of AED 2.53 billion. Nationals from Iraqi, Yemen, Sudan, Palestine, Libya, and Algeria also made significant investments DLD’s investment report, which tracks the department’s real estate transaction activities over the course of one year, revealed that citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states contributed AED 44 billion from 12,441 investors of six nationalities in 2015.
Emirati investment formed the lion’s share of this figure, with total transactions of AED 26.083 billion, while citizens of Saudi Arabia came in at second place after making transactions worth AED 9 billion from 3,259 investors. In third place were Kuwaiti nationals, with 1,117 investors making transactions worth AED 3 billion, followed by nationals from Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
Commenting on the results, Director General of DLD, HE Sultan Butti Bin Merjen said: “The sheer diversity of investors in Dubai’s real estate market is an overwhelming endorsement of the products that we have to offer. Dubai enjoys an extremely high degree of acceptance from international investors because of its attributes and its Return on Investment – factors that have been revealed from studies on the UAE’s state of stability and the continuing growth of its economy.
“We are reassured with the size of investments from the citizens of the UAE, in addition to the enormous demand from our brothers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Investment from Gulf State nationals provides the market with a strong shield from seasonal fluctuations. In respect of this, we would like to extend our appreciation for the efforts of our colleagues in the Investment Management and Promotion Centre, the investment arm of DLD, for the innovative initiatives that they put forward to make Dubai one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world,” bin Mejren concluded.
