Dubai has emerged as a preferred real estate investment destination for Indians looking for reasonable returns.
As per statistics issued by the Department of Real Estate Studies & Research, Dubai Land Department, Indian nationals alone have invested ₹16,800 crore in Dubai’s real estate in the first nine months of 2018.
Indian buyers have consistently been the highest foreign investors in the emirate’s real estate sector because of high returns and handsome rental income, officials said.
“Indians have been living in Dubai for many decades and have contributed immensely to its economic growth,” said Himanshu Gupta, Ggeneral manager, Dubai Property Show, which is being held in Mumbai, profiling projects of developers such as Nakheel, Falconcity of Wonders, Sobha Realty and Gemini Properties.
“For Indian realty investors, Dubai has proved to be a home away from home, courtesy of a familiar environment, proximity to India, fantastic growth opportunities and an increasing trust in the system,” he said.
New phase of growth
“Optimism is also very high, as the real estate market is gearing up for a new phase of growth in the run-up to Expo 2020 which will further strengthen the economic gains of realty investment in Dubai in the coming years,” Mr. Gupta said.
Meanwhile, to enable Indians to invest in projects in the Middle East and to channelise NRI money into Indian real estate, Mumbai-based Anarock Property Consultants has decided to foray into the Gulf region.
The company has appointed Shajai Jacob, previously executive director and head of marketing (West Asia) at JLL India, as its chief executive officer, GCC (Middle East). Mr. Jacob will be based out of Dubai and will have complete oversight of the company’s brokerage operations across the Middle East and north African countries. Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Property Consultants said, “Mr. Jacob will expand our presence with four new offices in Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over the next three quarters.”
While Dubai itself contributes 60% of overall sales of Indian properties across the GCC region, this is only the tip of the iceberg, Mr. Jacob said.
