Dubai realty rakes in Dh57b in H1

Dubai - 149 nationalities make 26,000 transactions in first six months of 2016; Emiratis, Indians top

Dubai's real estate market maintained its robust appeal in 2016, attracting Dh57 billion in investments by 149 nationalities through 26,000 transactions in the first six months of 2016, with the top five buyers coming from the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Pakistan.
UAE nationals were the biggest investors with the lion's share of Dh14.52 billion followed by Indians with Dh7.27 billion. Saudi investors ranked third with Dh4.24 billion, UK investors came fourth with Dh3.97 billion and Pakistanis were in fifth with Dh3.17 billion, according to Dubai Land Department (DLD) data issued on Saturday.
"The Dubai real estate market has managed to maintain its robust appeal this year and is now emerging as one of the foremost property investment destinations in the world, bolstered by the decline in some regional economies and serious challenges faced by other countries around the globe," DLD director-general Sultan Butti bin Merjen said in a statement.
Among foreign investors, excluding Gulf and Arab investors, Indian nationals topped with 3,656 transactions, followed by British with 2,010 and Pakistanis with 2,073.
"The diversity of the investor base reflects the extensive ranges of different products offered by the real estate sector in Dubai, along with the quality and trust that investors place in its national economy," Bin Merjen said.
The DLD said that citizens of the GCC contributed Dh22 billion to the Dubai property market, a figure that encompasses 8,000 transactions. Emirati investment formed the lion's share of this figure, acquired from 4,543 investments.
Citizens of Saudi Arabia came in at second place with 1,946 investments. In third place were Kuwaiti nationals, with 743 investment transactions worth more than Dh1 billion, followed by those from Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
Arab investors from outside the GCC countries contributed more than Dh7 billion to the real estate market in the aforementioned period, with 7,577 investments made by 16 different nationalities.
The DLD's report revealed that Jordanian investors were ranked first with 765 investments worth more than Dh1.5 billion. They were followed by Egyptians with Dh1.37 billion stemming from 710 transactions and Lebanese whose investments amounted to more than Dh1 billion, derived from 423 transactions.
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com