Indian and Pakistan Investors Target Dubai Properties

Real estate investors from India and Pakistan like what they see in Dubai these days. Indian investors bought a total 2,153 properties valued at $1 billion U.S. (Rs 5,670 crore; 3.751 billion dirhams) in the first half of this year.

Pakistanis bought a total 1,814 properties valued at $466 million U.S. (Rs 4,400 crore; 1.713 billion dirhams). One Moroccan dirham equals 0.111733 U.S. dollars

Indians have retained the number one spot since foreign ownership regulations were applied, a new research has revealed.

According to the Real Estate Investment Promotion and Management Center at the Dubai Land Department, the total value of direct foreign investments in the real estate sector of Dubai exceeded Rs 33,300 crore (22 billion dirhams).

The funds were generated by foreign investors of various nationalities. They bought 12,875 properties involving buildings, land parcels, apartments and residential villas during the first half of 2012.

"The real estate sector performance is moving from strength to strength over the past two years," Majida Ali Rashid, Chairwoman of the Real Estate Investment Promotion and Management Centre, said in a report on the transactions to date.

"The market has been attracting more foreign investors, which reflects the solid national economy and its excellent growth potential."

She said British investors bought a total 1,564 properties, ranking third in number of purchased units.

Russian and Iranian investors competed for the fourth and fifth positions. Iranians bought 1,057 properties; the Russians, 694 properties.

Saudi Arabian investors came in sixth in terms of property ownership in Dubai. They bought 416 units in the first half of the year, followed by American investors who claimed the seventh position with 415 properties. Canadians placed eighth with 329 properties.

Sultan Al Akraf, senior director of the real estate registration services at the Dubai Land Department, was pleased with the numbers. He said the figures reflect an ongoing upside trend and a positive growth in Dubai's realty market performance.

He said the total value of real estate transactions has exceeded Rs 95,380 crore (63 billion dirhams) during the first half of the current year, representing a 21 percent growth over the same period in 2011.

The officially documented results have been achieved through 18,953 transactions. Most of them covered sale and mortgage deals, a limited number of lease and mortgage portfolios and other transactions.

Source: www.worldpropertychannel.com