DUBAI: Dubai’s property market is to go all out chasing overseas investors. A series of roadshows will be held in key overseas markets — India, China, Russia and even the US — through the year to get these investors to sit up and take notice. The Dubai Land Department is putting its full weight behind the initiative.
The first of these will be held closer to the UAE, through two-day events in Amman and Kuwait and scheduled for late March. They will be followed by Cairo in April, Beijing in May, and Moscow in July. The North American leg is set for October, in Chicago and Dallas. London will get to showcase Dubai realty over three days in September, and Mumbai does so in December.
Last year, Arab and Chinese investors were particularly active in Dubai’s freehold space, while Indians represented the second biggest buyer demographic — spending Dh15.6 billion — after UAE nationals (who did Dh25.3 billion).
“We had a series of overseas events last year and that generated about Dh3 billion in enquiries,” said Majid Saqr Al Merri, senior director at the Dubai Land Department. “Our message to overseas investors remains the same — Dubai can offer yields of 7-11 per cent compared with the 3-5 per cent you might get elsewhere.”
The Land Department already has ‘promotion trustees’ operating out of the Dubai head office, who effectively act as liaison for international buyers and offer all sorts of back-end support.
The department is doubling down on pushing Dubai’s profile as a realty investment destination. Last week, it confirmed the launch of a property show in Dubai, for April, that will open a new window for transaction possibilities.
But the big push will be made with an eye on the overseas buyer. The Chinese, market sources say, will be the next big thing and some of that interest already showed up in the 2017 numbers, by figuring among the Top 10 nationalities buying in Dubai.
Chinese state enterprises are already active in financing select projects, as are their big construction companies. And developers such as Damac have got representations in China to make their brand known.
As for other buyer demographics, market sources believe that Indian buyer support should remain consistent through the year. All projects and properties registered with the Land Department and backed up with an escrow are eligible to be part of the overseas roadshows.
“It will be up to the developers and other exhibitors to decide what sort of incentives need to be packaged,” said Kalpesh Sampat, managing partner at Gulf Sotheby’s International realty. “But we have seen it being done before at earlier overseas roadshows.”
The key costs would be the 4 per cent registration fees on a property transfer, or for the ‘Oqood’ if sold off-plan. In Dubai, developers have been absorbing most of these sundry costs and that has been a factor in the fairly healthy off-plan sales in 2017.
