DUBAI, Jan 28 (MAMOSA Report) – Foreign ownership amounted to 50 percent of Dubai’s real estate, with more than Dh114 billion in transactions last year being attributed to these buyers.
According to figures released by the Dubai Land Department, the overall number of transacted properties in the emirate last year was valued at Dh236 billion. But foreign ownerships are driving the Dubai realty, the report said.
“The city is now the focus of attention from investors across the world and we expect the sector to expand significantly, encouraged by the ‘feel good’ factor that has accompanied the news of the [Expo] win.”
Robin Grey, country manager at Chesterton International, said “They (foreign investors) are looking at commercial buildings, retail space and hotels as key assets since they directly stand to benefit from the Expo.
Expo 2020 is being touted as ‘Dubai’s launch pad into future’.
The figures released by the agency show that Indian passport holders represented the bulk of the purchases last year, followed by British and Pakistani nationals. In all, foreign nationals from 162 countries ended up buying real estate in Dubai in 2013. “Investors from around the world are finding that Dubai is offering a particularly attractive climate to undertake property business,” Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, director-general at the Land Department, told Gulf News.
UAE and GCC nationals combined — totaling 7,548 investors — funded Dh33 billion of the overall transactions, with the former accounting for Dh24 billion. Saudis followed with Dh4.6 billion.
Arab investors from outside of the Gulf added a further Dh12 billion, with Jordanian nationals topping the list at Dh2.6 billion. Lebanese and Egyptians followed.
