Indians are top investors in Dubai real estate

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Dubai - 5,246 Indians invested in Dubai property while 1,913 Pakistanis bought real estate in the emirate.

By Waheed Abbas

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Published: Sat 14 Nov 2020, 4:24 PM

Last updated: Sat 14 Nov 2020, 6:51 PM

Indians topped the investors' list in Dubai’s real estate sector last year, according to official figures released on Saturday.

A total of 5,246 Indians has invested in the property market in the emirate as per the Dubai Land Department (DLD) records, followed by the 5,172 Emiratis.


As many as 2,198 Saudi investors chosen asset in Dubai. Chinese investors in Dubai real estate number to 2,096 followed by the UK with 2,088.

The investors from Pakistan came sixth with 1,913 followed by Egypt (955), Jordan (855), the US (682) and Canada (678).


Toppers in investment value

Indians also topped in investment value, pumping more than Dh10.89 billion last year into the emirate’s property sector, followed by Dh8.1 billion by Emiratis, Dh4.92 billion from Saudi Arabia, Dh3.97 billion from the British investors and Dh3.65 billion by the Chinese nationals.

Investors from Pakistan pumped in Dh2.79 billion into the emirate’s real estate sector last year, followed by Jordan (Dh1.57 billion) Egypt (Dh1.42 billion), France (Dh1.1 billion) and the USA (Dh1.25 billion).

“The year 2020, and the difficult challenges it brought, was a clear example of full coordination between all government departments on one hand and the wise leadership on the other, as a collective effort necessary to confront crises,” said Sultan Butti bin Mejren, director-general of DLD.

Majida Ali Rashid, CEO for real estate promotion and investment management sector at DLD, said Dubai remains one of the few investment destinations that maintain the growth fundamentals that represent a strong momentum in the latter half of the year while benefiting from the enabling factors provided by the government to address the consequences of the pandemic.

“The sector achieved a growth rate of 3.66 per cent during Q1 2020 compared to Q1 2019, which achieved a growth rate of 3.09 per cent.

Despite the negative economic growth rates for Q1 2020, the sector’s performance and its contribution to GDP growth is still positive, and it is strongly reflected in the growth of the emirate’s GDP in the same period by eight per cent; this positive trend will continue during 2020 and the coming years,” said Majida.

Transactions

Approximately Dh226 billion worth real estate transactions were carried out in 2019 compared to Dh221 billion in 2018, with a growth rate of 2.1 per cent, the DLD said.

The value of real estate sales reached Dh81 billion in 2019 compared to Dh77 billion in 2018, with a growth rate of nearly five per cent. The value of real estate mortgages reached Dh125 billion in 2019 compared to Dh120 billion in 2018, growing by nearly four per cent.

Moreover, the number of investments in 2019 reached over 47,000 investments, with a growth rate of 18 per cent, compared to 40,000 investments in 2018. There were more than 34,000 real estate investors in 2019, with a 14 per cent growth rate, compared to 29,846 in 2018.

Marina is most sought-after

Dubai Marina ranked first in terms of real estate investments in 2019, with 3,920 investments. Business Bay came second with 3,508 real estate investments. In the third place came the Al Khairan First area with 3,142 investments, and fourth came the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Gardens with 2,833 investments. The fifth place was for Burj Khalifa with 2,721 investments.

New projects

Seventy new real estate projects were registered in 2019 and 14 in the first half of 2020. The number of added residential units to the real estate sector in 2019 was more than 17,000 compared to 10,996 added residential real estates in 2018.

The contribution of the real estate sector to Dubai’s GDP reached 7.2 per cent or Dh29.4 billion in 2019, according to the DLD data.

Under construction projects

The number of projects that are still under construction and registered in the DLD until the first half of 2020 were 314.

According to the project registration date, the number of projects under construction and registered during 2019 reached 53 as compared to 61 in 2018. Around 75 projects registered in 2017 and 45 registered in 2016 are also still under construction.

Under construction projects, which were registered during 2019, are expected to add more than 9,000 apartments, in addition to 3,605 villas and 734 villas complexes, added the authority.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com


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