Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Dubai has been gradually becoming the apple of Indian investors’ eye. Indians are now purchasing more real estate in Dubai than ever, emerging as one of the top 3 nationalities investing in the emirate. We asked prominent hotelier Sanjeev Nanda about the sudden boom in investment from Indians that Dubai has been witnessing of late.
According to Nanda, one of the many reasons why Indians invest in Dubai is that the rental yields in the emirate are higher than several mature markets. “Dubai is an investors’ paradise. You can easily get a rental yield of 6 to 10 percent, which is something unheard of even in many older markets. Also, you can buy significantly more space with $1 million in Dubai than in popular cities like London, Mumbai, and Shanghai,” he said.
Sanjeev Nanda added, “What makes the Dubai real estate market even more lucrative is its level of regulation. Investors enjoy great protection since a real estate regulation authority is in place. This makes property transactions in the emirate far more compliance-oriented and transparent than the Indian counterparts. When value for money gets combined with transparency, the result is an attractive market.”
Recent reports show that while Dubai has experienced a sudden surge in investments from Indians during the pandemic, Indian nationals have been making major contributions to the emirate’s real estate sales since way before. In 2019, about 16 per cent of housing sales by volume in Dubai happened due to Indian buyers. The volume increased during the pandemic, with the first quarter of 2020 experiencing 15 per cent more realty sales than the first quarter of 2019, a large part of which was driven by Indian nationals.
So, where do Indians invest in Dubai? According to hotelier Sanjeev Nanda, an Indian himself, budget is not a deterrent for Indian investors as long as all the accoutrements and trappings are in place. “Investors coming from India have differing predilections. Some value grandeur and exclusivity, while the others are looking for a better ROI with attractive entry prices,” said Sanjeev Nanda.
He continued, “For residential properties, family structure also plays an important role – larger families prefer independent villas, while nuclear families prefer investing in apartments. Since residence in Dubai also opens the gates to UAE citizenship, many people from India come to see the emirate as a second home. The city offers a truly global lifestyle not too far from their first home, making it a practically perfect choice for residence.”
