Dh53bn spent on Dubai property

The Dubai Land Department has released new figures showing the amount of cash invested in the Dubai property market during the first half of this year increased by 70.1 per cent.

Investors from India were the most prolific foreign buyers, accounting for 499 transactions during the first half of this year. Pawan Singh / The National

The Dubai Land Department has released new figures showing the amount of cash invested in the Dubai property market increased by 70.1 per cent during the first half of this year.

The department said in total investors spent Dh53 billion buying property in the emirate during the first six months, up from Dh31bn in the previous period.

Foreign investors from outside the Arab world spent the most, shelling out Dh32bn during the first half, and recording a 73 per cent increase compared with the previous year, the Land Department said.

Indians invested the most although they did not do the most deals, making just 499 transactions during the period. But that was worth a total of more than Dh8bn.

Pakistani investors came in second place with 3,285 investors spending more than Dh3bn, followed by 2,389 British investors spending in excess of Dh4bn.

Arab investors from outside the Arabian Gulf region showed the highest increase in investments, with the total value of cash put into property rising 111 per cent compared with the same period the previous year from Dh2.37bn to Dh5bn.

Of these, Jordanians were the biggest group, with 598 spending a total of Dh1bn. Lebanese came second with 437 investors shelling out Dh884 million and Egyptians ranked third with 388 trades worth a total of Dh753m.

Investors from within the Gulf, including UAE nationals, spent a further Dh16bn on Dubai property during the first half of the year, an increase of 57 per cent on a year earlier.

UAE nationals spent a total of Dh12bn on Dubai property during the period in 2,765 transactions. Citizens of Saudi Arabia ranked second among the GCC nations with 605 investors spending Dh2bn, Kuwait came in third with 141 and investments exceeding Dh360m, followed by Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

The news follows Land Department data published last month that show Dh108bn of property deals were done in Dubai during the period. A spokesman said that figure included all transactions completed during the period including remortgaging deals, while the Dh53bn related exclusively to property purchases.

"Dubai's real estate market is a lucrative one for its stability, diversity and promise of high return on investment," said Sultan Butti bin Mejren, the director general of the Dubai Land Department.

"These factors continue to inspire confidence in local, regional and international investors alike, whose transactions in turn contribute to sustained momentum of the market's growth - signifying complete recovery from the global financial crisis."

The news also comes as the Dubai-listed property developer Deyaar Development reported an increase in net profits to Dh27.3m for the three months to June from Dh18.6m in the same period last year. The company said net profit for the first six months of this year rose 66 per cent to Dh46.7m compared with the same period the previous year.