Indians were once again seen as the most prolific foreign investors in Dubai, with 3,017 transactions worth over Rs 13,000 crore.
Economic Times reports that according to the Dubai Land Department, Indian property investors spent over Rs 30,000 crore last year alone. This is more than a quarter of a total of around Rs 1 lakh crore of 'non-Arab' property investments recorded in 2014.
Leading property developers from Dubai will go to India to encourage Indians to invest in the Emirate's real estate market. There would be a property exhibition in Mumbai, India even during this time that Dubai's property market still can't find a steady footing. Dubai experienced the largest price drop in the world with 12.2 percent during the past year, according to Knight Frank, a real estate consultancy company.
According to the sources of the Economic Times, Russian property investors, one of the top foreign investors, left Dubai after the 2008 global financial crisis.
An official from Knight Frank has also said that there has been a fall in the proportion of Indian real estate investments in Dubai.
"In H1 2015, Indians accounted for 15 percent of the total spent on property-versus 25 percent in H1 2014. This can largely be attributed to the strength of the U.S. dollar (to which the U.A.E. dirham is pegged), making property investment in the Emirates a more expensive endeavor for the nationality," said the Knight Frank rep.
Data from the Dubai Land Department shows that foreigners accounted for 78 percent of total real estate investment in the first half of 2015. Indians were the ones constituting most of the total value invested in real estate between January and June of this year with 15 percent, followed by the British with 9 percent, and the Pakistanis with 6 percent.
A market source from Economic Times said that, "Proximity to India, lower interest rates, rental yield ranging four to seven percent annually, high tax-free returns on investments of around 20 percent and a regulated market are key driving factors for Indian investments into the sector."
