Overseas investors purchase 75% of real estate in Dubai

Three-quarters of Dubai's real estate is purchased by investors from overseas.

This is according to data from Christie's International Real Estate's latest 'Luxury Defined' report, which shows that 75 per cent of all property buyers in the emirate hail from abroad, making this the most active market for foreign real estate investors in the world.

What's more, Dubai is the most popular global city for second home purchases, providing a certain degree of insight into the wealth and lifestyles of the people the emirate attracts.

In fact, figures from the Dubai Land Department show that overseas buyers spent some AED 12 billion (£2.1 billion) on properties in the area during the first three months of 2015 alone, with affluent investors tending to spend between AED 11 million and AED 18 million on luxury apartments in the emirate.

Taking second place on the list was London, where 44 per cent of properties are purchased by foreign investors, while Miami came in third, with 40 per cent of its homes bought by someone from overseas.

Speaking to Gulf News, regional vice-president for Christie's International Real Estate Joachim Wrang-Widen commented: "For international buyers, the opportunity of acquiring real estate in a market that is characterised by dynamism and an extremely large degree of foreign population without any income tax or capital tax being levied contributes to international purchasers viewing the Dubai market favourably.

"Geographically, Dubai is almost equidistant between Asia and Europe. The Expo 2020 has definitely increased the level of interest following a slight plateauing of the market."

Earlier this month, it was announced that the Reserve Bank of India had doubled its foreign exchange remittance limit, subsequently making it significantly easier for Indian investors to purchase property in Dubai.