The biggest foreign buyers of real estate in Dubai for H1 2018 were Indians as per the latest reports. This goes to show how attractive Dubai property has become for Indian investors. The total transactions made by Indian buyers were worth a whopping $1.6 billion in this period in the Dubai real estate market with 27, 642 transactions noted by the DLD (Dubai Land Department) overall out of which 3, 218 investments were made by Indian buyers.
Saudi Arabian buyers made around 1, 415 investments which were worth approximately $1 billion. Emiratis remain the biggest investors for Dubai real estate, having bought properties worth $1.85 billion. However, amongst foreign investors, Indians are in pole position in the race to snap up prime properties in Dubai. The highest number of properties were purchased in the Business Bay area along with Al Merkadh and Dubai Marina. Indian nationals are now the biggest foreign investor group in the realty market in Dubai and with the boosting of strategic ties between India and the UAE, investments could only increase in the future as per market experts.
Indians find it easier to undertake property registration in Dubai as compared to their own country and buyers can also get residence visas if they invest around Dh1 million or roughly $270, 000 or Rs. 1.88 crore here. Dubai is also more affordable as compared to Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi since prime property in Dubai is priced at an average of Rs. 25, 000 per sq. ft. for Indian buyers as compared to Rs. 40-50, 000 per sq. ft. in Mumbai or up to Rs. 36, 000 per sq. ft. and Rs. 19-27, 000 per sq. ft. in Delhi and Bangalore respectively.
Dubai apartments are also retailed on the basis of their carpet areas with free car parking facilities while apartments in India are offered as built-up properties and car parks are separately sold. Indian buyers have purchased property worth in excess of $22.6 billion between 2013-2017. Last year, Indian nationals purchased property worth $4.25 billion while the peak of $5.44 billion was seen in the year 2015. Indian nationals also make up the highest population of expats in the UAE and are also the biggest foreign owners of companies/businesses in this region. Almost 25% of foreign investments into the real estate market in Dubai comes from Indians as per reports.
