Dubai Property Festival to showcase top investment opportunities

The first-ever Dubai Property Festival, which will be staged in Dubai from 9-11 April, will turn the spotlight on the property investment opportunities in the emirate.

The three-day event, which will be staged at Dubai World Trade Centre, is being organised by the Dubai Land Department’s (DLD) Real Estate Investment Management and Promotion Centre – the division charged with promoting Dubai’s property market to potential investors.

The event represents the centrepiece of the annual Real Estate Investment Week, which aims to lure property investors from across the globe to Dubai.

Visitors will be able to network with developers, analysts and other investors to discuss opportunities in Dubai’s booming property market.

The event will culminate with a ‘mega property sale’, which will entitle delegates to take advantage of exclusive deals and priority borrowing rates on a range of investment properties.

According to data published by the DLD, the average return on investment on apartments in Dubai in 2017 was 7%, while the department forecasts this to rise to 8% in 2018.

Director general of the DLD, Sultan Butti bin Mejren, said: "Dubai’s real estate sector is strong and the emirate has unique assets to attract foreign capital in this sector including a high return on investment, which strengthens investor confidence."

The event’s staging follows new last month that Indian nationals formed the largest foreign investor group in Dubai’s property market, spending AED83.65 billion (US$22.77 billion) in the five years to 2017, according to DLD data.

Indian nationals invested AED15.6 billion in 2017 alone, the DLD said. In total, the DLD reported more than 69,000 real estate transactions across the emirate last year for a total value of AED285 billion.

To capitalise on interest from Indian investors, the DLD has confirmed it will stage the Dubai Property Show in Mumbai from 7-9 December at the Bandra Kurla Complex.