DFM: Dubai Residential REIT holds the line after Top 5 show on Day 1

Dubai: Into its third day on DFM, the Dubai Residential REIT is more or less holding its own with more foreign investors starting to take a closer look at what it can deliver.

Dubai’s first IPO and DFM listing of 2025 had quite a good outing on Day 1 of trading, which was May 28, gaining a near 14%. That placed it among the Top 5 best debut performers among DFM listed companies since April 2022. (Dubai Residential REIT listed at Dh1.1 a unit.)

The list is led by Parkin with a 31.4% day rise on its first day of trades, followed by Dubai Taxi and Al Ansari with 18.9% and 16.5%, respectively. DEWA comes in fourth with 15.7% and just ahead of Dubai Residential REIT’s 13.64%, according to data from Global Capital Partners.

Source: Global Capital Partners

This markets a significant showing and more so because most of the recent listings on DFM and ADX had ended flat or lower than the listing price. “Dubai Residential REIT’s broke the chain of underwhelming first day shows – that’s been a huge relief,” said an analyst.  

On the second day, the latest DFM entrant ended positive. It is currently at Dh1.26, trading flat but still generating sizable volumes of 13.79 million shares.  Today, the REIT unit is down 0.7% to Dh1.25 at 12:30 mark.

Currently, foreign investors make up 2.81% of the shareholder base and GCC nationals another 1.01%, with the rest held by the main promoter DHAM REIT Management and UAE nationals. (15% was offered during the IPO.)   

Proxy for property

Foreign nationals have been piling into DFM-listed property and property-focused stocks. Foreign investors make up 51.56% in Emaar Properties and its 15% in Emaar Development. Union Properties currently has 14.82% of its shareholder base being foreign investors.

There is significant interest in listed UAE real estate stocks as 'proxy for the sort of growth Dubai and Abu Dhabi property markets are having', said an analyst.

"Dubai Residential REIT's IPO came to market at the perfect time when more investors, especially foreign institutional investors, want to go bigger on UAE stocks."