Virtual property buying draws foreigners to Dubai real estate market

Foreign investors are being increasingly attracted by the property prices in Dubai which makes them buy the property without seeing it physically.

Allsopp & Allsopp, a leading real estate agent in Dubai says that foreign clients who bought properties in Dubai from overseas did it without seeing the property physically or signing the contract papers in person.

“With property prices in Dubai compared favorably with markets globally, supply reduces a sharp increase in activity in the property market, investors are looking at properties in the city and forming the opinion that they need to act now,” the British owned real agency said.

As per the data technology company, Data Finder, there was an increase of 11.3 percent in August 2020’s real estate transaction when compared to that of 2019 August.

The director of research and data at Property Finder, Lynnette Abad, says that last year the real estate market was slower in the summer months as people choose to travel during the summer holidays. This year the pandemic has made residents stay at their homes. Along with this situation, the pricing of properties also seemed attractive which in turn created much higher transactions.

The virtual property sale proceeding is one of the major reasons which created a huge surge in Dubai’s Real estate amid the pandemic restriction.

During this period the top areas that attracted the clients were Town Square, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Marina, International City and Business Bay. The secondary sales transactions were highly happening in Town Square, Dubai Marina, Dubai Land, Downtown Dubai, and Dubai Sports City.

The CEO of Allsopp & Allsopp, Lewis Allsopp, says that when the clients are willing to make virtual real estate deals it opens up a new path for this market. “Another trend is that clients are utilizing the virtual viewing to narrow down their property search before going out to physically view a property,” he added.

The Property Finder points out that the pandemic has created a major shift in the clients’ demand. People are now searching for larger spaces and an increased number of bedrooms. Statistics show that sales transactions for one-bedroom apartments have seen a 10 percent decrease whereas there is a 34 percent increase in studio apartments.