2018 Top Investors in Dubai Real Estate are Indians,Brits, Pakistanis

On an average, a foreign investor owned 1.3 properties in investment last year.  26,728 investors bought Dh62 billion worth of real estate investments during the January-November period of 2018 in Dubai.

The Dubai real estate market has a solid inflow of foreign funds from Indians, British, Pakistanis and Jordanians who collectively accounted for approximately 33.3% of total investments in Jan-Nov, 2018. Emiratis invested over Dh11.5 billion making them the top investors among GCC nationals in Dubai. Indians were next with Dh10.8 billion, followed by the British with Dh4.3 billion, Pakistanis with Dh2.8 billion and Jordanians with Dh1.5 billion. Saudi investors dropped from the top five ranking, who were the third-biggest in 2017.

A total of 33,888 investments were made by 26,728 investors during the January-November period.

Sultan Butti bin Mejren, director-general of the Dubai Land Department (DLD) was quoted in the latest report of Cavendish Maxwell, saying "Investors from Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt and Canada also contributed to the total transaction value in 2018."

As per experts, it is expected that 2019 will be a better year for the market to see an upswing due to Government support for the local economy that will stabilize employment and demand. Dubai's infrastructure and new government pillars of 2020, along with its 50-year plan of diversifying its economy will stabilize demand for real estate. Tourism and logistics is also set to receive boosts from 2019. The global trend is for smart, efficient and affordable real estate, and the sector is moving in that direction.

GCC nationals, according to the DLD, made over 8,096 transactions through 5,946 investors, with a total value of Dh16.5 billion during January-November 2018. The Dubai market attracted 3,664 Arab investors, who made 4,641 investments, with a total value of Dh7.6 billion, while over 17,118 foreign investors concluded 21,151 transactions worth over Dh37 billion.

There was also active participation from women, 8,385 of whom were responsible for 9,723 investments worth Dh16.3 billion.

The DLD data revealed that Business Bay generated a total of 3,124 transactions worth Dh5.9 billion, followed by Marsa Dubai, with 2,353 transactions worth Dh4.7 billion, and Al Warsan 1, with 2,211 transactions worth Dh1.5 billion.

On the same list, Al Barsha South Fourth, Al Merkadh, Burj Khalifa, Al Thanyah Fifth, Jebel Ali First, Al Hebiah Fourth and Al Hebiah Third ranked in that order, respectively.

According to Cavendish Maxwell's report, more than 22,000 apartments and over 4,400 villas/townhouses were handed over in Dubai during 2018. It sees the actual materialization rate for 2019 is expected to be in line with previous years, where annual handovers ranged between 16,000 and 20,000 units. The majority of the upcoming supply in 2019 is concentrated in Jumeirah Village Circle, Business Bay, Sports City, Silicon Oasis, Al Furjan and Mohammed Bin Rashid City.

(Source: Khaleej Times)