Indians top buyers of Dubai property in 2009

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Abdul Basit

2 February 2010, 11:06 PM
Indian investors dominated Dubai’s real estate market in 2009 with their investment in the sector reaching almost a quarter of the total sales recorded in the emirate.

FutureBrand’s Gulf Real Estate Study showed buyers from the United Kingdom and Pakistan followed the Indians both in terms of value and the area of property they bought in Dubai last year.

The data, supplied by DUBAIFocus, in association with the Dubai Land Department, also showed that UK property buyers finished second with their 21 per cent share followed by investors from Pakistan and Iran in the third and fourth position with 12 per cent and 10 per cent contribution respectively.

Expatriates account for around 80 per cent of the UAE population and Indians topped with 1.8 million, followed by 1.2 million Pakistanis, according to recent data.

The FutureBrand study also showed that Brand Dubai topped in the Gulf region as the preferred location for homeowners to live in. Abu Dhabi came next, followed by Doha, Jeddah and Muscat, in that order.

Preference for Dubai was fuelled by the buyer’s quest for high quality construction. A majority of the respondents stated this to be their highest priority.

The study examined what is happening beyond the epicentre of Dubai; the successes and the failure that each country has witnessed; and the shift from luxury brands to housing that serves every section of society.

“Trust is going to be the focus this year and beyond,” said Jae Hwang, Executive Director at FutureBrand in Dubai. “After a series of delays, cancellations and poorly communicated messages, developers are going to have to overcome and manage a large degree of scepticism.”

The report also identified new practices, including the impact of city brands on the real estate sector. Abu Dhabi’s investment and commitment to improving its brand is a notable example of this trend, one that will have lasting benefits for the nation’s real estate market.

“The Gulf real estate market has to address some critical challenges this year,” said Mario Natarelli, CEO of FutureBrand North America and Middle East. “It is easy to simply write off the region based on the sensationalised news of the crisis in Dubai, but we must consider how the considerable investment in the region’s infrastructure to date, the wealth of resources and the size of the overall marketplace creates a compelling reason to remain optimistic for the long term.”