Dubai's real estate market keeps attracting foreign investment

India, Pakistan, UK and China are among top non-Arab countries that invest in the emirate's property sector.

Dubai's real estate market has retained its position as a perfect overseas investment destination among various Arab and non-Arab countries for many years now. This can be seen from the fact that it ranked among the top three global property investment destinations during 2020 when the whole world was fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a strong recovery of the market in 2021, the third quarter of the year had the highest-ever sales transactions since 2009: 15,926 deals worth USD 11.5 billion. And by the end of Q3 2021, the year's transactions reached 43,299 deals amounting to USD 28 billion. Experts expect that the fourth quarter will produce even better results as Expo 2020 is receiving a great number of visitors.

Indians and Pakistanis hold a leading position among foreign investors in Dubai. They make up from 20 to 30 percent of total investors in the Dubai real estate sector and continue to pour money in growing market of the region.

Israeli investors have also ventured into the market in 2021 with significant investments and are likely to emerge in top 10 lists of nations investing in Dubai real estate this year.

According to analysts and real estate experts, visa reforms, successful pandemic management, and vaccination drive are among the top reasons that encouraged foreign investors to return to the market in 2021.

The Dubai Land Department's statistics show that India, Pakistan, UK, Saudi Arabia, and China are among the top countries that invest in the Dubai property market.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 was at its peak, Dubai's property market still demonstrated resilience and continued to attract foreign investment. Indian investors topped the charts followed by Chinese, British, Pakistani and French investors. As for GCC countries, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain were at the forefront.

In 2019 Indian, Saudi Arabian, Chinese, and British investors also dominated in the real estate sector. In addition to that, investors from Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, and Canada made noteworthy investments in the market.

At the moment the market is stable and it has a promising outlook due to growing demand from subcontinent investors and new entrants from US, UK, Europe and South American countries.