New Delhi, Feb 5: Indians bought Rs 35,500 crore worth of Dubai’s houses in 2022, accounting for 40 % of all real estate purchases in the city during the year.
So who are these buyers, which states they come from and why they are choosing UAE as their new home?
According to data maintained by Dubai’s real estate departments, most of the buyers are businessmen and entrepreneurs. Downtown Dubai, which has many malls and skyscrapers, including the Burj Khalifa, and Dubai Marina – a big tourist and business hub – are two main attractions. Official data for 2022 shows that the residence of Indians in Dubai has increased rapidly. Last year i.e. in 2022, Indians bought 16 billion dirhams (Rs 35,500 crore) from Dubai’s real estate market. In 2021, Indians will spend almost half this amount (9 billion dirhams) to buy a house in Dubai. Indians made up 40% of home buyers in Dubai last year.
Which states the buyers come from?
Most buyers come from Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad and Punjab. J&K has a very small number of buyers, indicating that people from there still prefer to invest within the country.
But why does Dubai attract rich Indians so much in the first place?
Dubai offers high quality crime-free family living, worldclass infrastructure, a neat and clean environment, diversity of cultures and religions and has connectivity to the whole world.
“I left India because its cities have become unmanageable – pollution, lack of basic civic amenities, traffic chaos and corruption are crippling. It has so hard to start any business”, said Jatin from Jammu city which shifted to Dubai recently with his wife after their marriage. He said they sold off their Indian properties and bought an apartment.
While Many Indians are moving into apartments which offer good return on investment in terms of rental yields, while they themselves live places which offer cheaper accommodation.
‘Ease of doing business, environment like Dubai is not found in India’
Vishal Goyal, co-founder of JV Ventures, is among the many Indians who have bought a home in Dubai.
“Living in Dubai allows me to travel easily between Hyderabad, Dubai and London for work,” he told TOI. He added that many young Indian entrepreneurs are coming here because of the fintech ecosystem that Dubai International Financial Center provides. Goyal said, “Take my wife, she set up her own fintech venture and got easy access to most of the global markets. It was not possible to do something like this so easily in India.
How expensive is it to buy a house in Dubai?
The houses that Indians have bought are priced anywhere between AED 800,000 to AED 1.6 million (Rs 1.8 crore to Rs 3.8 crore) both from primary and secondary markets.
The monthly rent for these properties ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh. According to local realtors, the rental returns on properties in Dubai range between 4% to 5%, and sometimes even more.
Why Indians love Dubai so much?
“Dubai is suitable for everyone who comes here with an open mind – new job seekers, entreprenuers and upper middle class and rich with disposable incomes. Importantly, it is a place which does not fit for people with closed minds, extremist views and exclusivity. Dubai is a place of diversity, peace and harmony, which demands a mindset which is free of bigotry and exclusivity”, said Farhan, an entrepreneur.
The world class social infrastructure of the city attracts people from all over the world. There are many international schools in Dubai and the number of Indians is increasing continuously. Due to all these factors, Dubai is preferred by Indians who want to upgrade their quality of life.
Ashrat Chowdhary, Strategy Director of Dubai’s leading real estate group Damac Properties, says that people from smaller cities of India are settling in Dubai.
According to him, Indians account for 15-20% of Dubai’s total realty sales. Russians are also buying homes in Dubai in large numbers.
UAE extended the Golden Visa program to 2022 in 2022. According to experts, this has given further boost to Dubai’s realty sector. Through this program, foreign talent gets the opportunity to live, work or study in UAE and also get some special benefits.
(With inputs from TOI)
