The real estate market in the UAE may benefit on account of the new visa reforms including the 100% foreign ownership and 10-year residency laws that have been recently introduced. The extended visa will benefit professionals in various sectors like research, technology, medicine and science along with students. Investors who wish to establish their businesses will not be required to get an Emirati sponsor on board for running companies here. 100% ownership will be introduced for foreign nationals.
Further information pertaining to resident and business categories for the new reforms and other charges will be unveiled in the second half of 2018 as per reports. The UAE has always been viewed as a transient location for expatriate white-collar professionals who have always been lured here by the attractive tax-free salaries on offer. The UAE property market is tied closely to overall business sentiment and job creation. This spurs overall housing demand and this is expected to increase with these new visa reforms.
Emirati and Saudi investors have led the pack in terms of investing in real estate in Dubai in addition to British, Indian and Pakistani investors. There are better rental yields here as compared to other investment hubs such as London, New York and Singapore. Prices and rentals have been correcting in various areas in the UAE from 2014 onwards. Over a period of 12-18 months, real estate developers in the UAE have majorly concentrated on factors like more incentives for buyers, diverse unit sizes and overall ticket prices.
Buyers have higher supply to pick from in recent times and look at aspects like the track record of developers, access to necessary public and social infrastructure, overall connectivity and so on which influence overall demand and movements in pricing. Improvements in the overall regulatory environment and higher transparency will boost global realty investments and the higher participation of occupiers or end users will infuse more maturity into the UAE real estate market in the near future. Long-term residency and 100% foreign ownership may enable smoother real estate purchases for various segments in the population.
This could definitely give real estate markets in the UAE a major boost in the near future. Professional expatriates may also look to invest in the local economy and UAE real estate with these new reforms instead of dispatching remittances to their home countries.
