Indians spend big on Dubai real estate: DLD

Indian investors are the second biggest spenders on Dubai real estate after Emiratis, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) has revealed.

Its list of the top nationalities investing in the emirate’s real estate market between January 2016 and June 2017 found Indians made 10,628 transactions worth more than AED20.4 billion (US$5.56 billion) during this period.

They were second only to UAE nationals who made close to 12,000 investment transactions worth AED37.4 billion ($10.18 billion).

Pakistani, Saudi Arabian and British investors ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively for number of registered transactions. DLD director general Sultan Butti bin Mejren revealed that overall, 217 nationalities invested AED151 billion ($41.11 billion) in Dubai’s real estate market during the 18-month period.

“This demonstrates the confidence that the world has in our real estate environment, which is characterised by a strong regulatory system that provides safety and security for all parties,” he said in a recent statement.

“This list has been unveiled at a time when our real estate market is preparing for a new phase of growth in the run-up to Expo 2020. We are pleased to have witnessed such a high level of interest from global citizens in Dubai, who have invested more than AED151 billion ($41.11 billion) across 71,000 real estate transactions in just 18 months.”

Pakistani nationals made 5,398 real estate transactions worth approximately AED7 billion ($1.91 billion) while Saudi Arabians were involved in 5,366 transactions worth AED12.5 billion ($3.4 billion).

UK citizens took pole position among the European nationalities with 4,188 transactions worth AED9 billion ($2.45 billion).

Citizens from three other Arab countries appeared on the list, with investors from Egypt, China, Jordan, Lebanon and America ranking from sixth to tenth place respectively having made 2,439 transactions worth more AED4 billion ($1.1 billion).