Indians are the top investors in Dubai real estate sector: DLD

According to official estimates, Indian nationals were among the top 10 investors in Dubai’s real estate sector last year.

The latest data from the Dubai Land Department (DLD) showed that Indian investors ranked first with 5,246, followed by UAE nationals with 5,172, Saudi Arabia (2,198), China (2,096) and the UK (2,088) in ranks, respectively. Investors from Pakistan were in sixth position (1,913), followed by Egypt (955), Jordan (855), the US (682) and Canada (678).

Indians were also top in terms of investment value by spending more than $2.9 billion (Dh10.89 billion) last year into the real estate sector of the Emirate, followed by Emiratis $2.2 billion (Dh8.1 billion), Saudis $1.3 billion (Dh4.92 billion), British $1 billion (Dh3.97 billion) and Chinese $1 billion (Dh3.97 billion).

Pakistanis invested $759 million (Dh2.79 billion) in the real estate sector, followed by Jordanians $427 million (Dh1.57 billion), Egyptians $386 million (Dh1.42 billion), Americans $340 million (Dh1.25 billion) and French $299 million (Dh1.1 billion).

Sultan Butti bin Mejren, General Director, DLD said, “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.”

“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 benefitting 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 are 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.”

As per the DLD, the value of real estate transactions in 2019 reached approximately $61 billion (Dh226 billion) compared with the $60 billion (Dh221 billion) in 2018, with a growth rate of 2.1 percent. And the value of sales hit $22 billion (Dh81 billion) in 2019 compared to $20 billion (Dh77 billion) in 2018, with a growth rate of almost five percent.

Besides, the number of investments reached over 47,000 in 2019 while compared to 40,000 in 2018, with an 18 percent growth rate. And in matters of investors, it shows a 14 percent growth compared to the previous year.

Dubai Marina ranked first in terms of real estate investments in 2019, with 3,920. Business Bay came second with 3,508, followed by the Al Khairan First area (3,142), Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Gardens (2,833) and Burj Khalifa (2,721).

The DLD stated that there were 70 real estate projects registered in 2019 and 14 in the first half of 2020. The number of residential units added to the real estate market was more than 17,000 in 2019, compared with 10,996 in 2018.

As per the project registration date, the number of projects under construction and registered during 2019 reached 53, in 2018 the number of projects was 61. Also under construction are registered about 75 projects in 2017 and 45 registered in 2016.