Real estate deals in Sharjah surge 5.1 percent in 2020

The number of deals sealed last year by non-GCC investors increased significantly by 32.5 percent.

On the back of stimulus measures rolled out by the government to overcome the pandemic challenges, real estate transactions in Sharjah surged 5.1 percent. In 2020 the emirate recorded 64,459 transactions worth USD 4.3 billion in total.

According to the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department, the supportive efforts of the government through a series of incentives helped the real estate sector not only overcome the COVID-19 pandemic crisis but rather prosper and grow. Some of the premium real estate projects, comprising commercial and industrial projects, launched in 2020 had helped revive transactions despite the pandemic. Studying the realty market, developers identified the needs of investors and came up with appropriate and competitive products to suit customers’ tastes.

A reduction of fees on the sale value from 4 to 2 percent for non-GCC purchasers led to a significant increase of 32.5 percent in the number of the sales sealed last year by foreign investors.

During the lockdown many of the department services were offered through electronic means. And an advance-appointment system was activated for the transactions that require personal attendance.

In the residential sector, 3,773 sales were recorded in 2020, in comparison to 3,328 transactions registered in 2019, representing a growth of 13.4 percent. These covered a total area of 56 million square feet. Most of the sales were recorded in the city with 3,292 transactions valued at USD 1.2 billion. The transactions covered 100 areas, led by Hoshi and Al Khan that constituted 38.5 percent of the total sales transactions in 2020.

Investors of 61 nationalities invested in the emirate in 2020. They included 11,230 GCC and Emirati investors who bought 14,583 properties worth USD 3.5 billion and 2,189 foreign investors who bought 2,303 properties worth USD 816 million.

Residential properties constituted 75.3 percent of the sales transactions sealed last year. These included 1,006 residential vacant lands, followed by 901 residential apartments, and 712 residential built-up lands.

Commercial properties ranked second with 11.1 percent of the total properties traded last year. Industrial properties stood third with 10.4 percent of the total deals, while agricultural properties recorded only 3.2 percent of the total deals in 2020.