Property investors and buyers from India are flocking to Dubai following recent legislative changes designed to provide greater certainty to investors, a leading property development firm says.
DAMAC Properties says it has seen a marked increase in transactions from India since recent regulations were implemented to improve transparency in the market.
“We now have more buyers from India than any other nationality,” DAMAC senior vice president Niall McLoughlin says. “This is in a big way down to the increased confidence they feel in the Dubai property market following the recent legislation developments.”
The property and construction industry in Dubai was badly affected after finance dried up following the GFC in 2008, bringing activity on many projects to a grinding halt.
In response, the government has implemented a number of measures to restore market confidence, including the provision of residency to overseas buyers of property worth more than $1 million, and ensuring that all lease contracts are registered through a government database and all transactions with the Land Department go through a centralised listing for available property.
McLoughlin has welcomed the moves, saying it was important to have clear processes for buyers and tenants in order to boost confidence and make it easier for international buyers to conduct business and transactions in the sector.
While McLoughlin obviously has a vested interest in talking up the sector, his sentiments regarding market conditions are well supported by factual data. The number of transactions taking place in the Dubai property market jumped from 1,578 in the third quarter last year to 2,873 in the quarter just gone according to figures from real-estate services firm CBRE. Also, a number of prominent construction firms, including Emaar Properties, Aldar Properties and Sorough Real Estate have delivered strong profit results of late.
For buyers and investors to ensure the new laws are protecting them, McLoughlin says they should insist on four key pieces of information when dealing with any developer: their trade licence, a contract in place with the master developer, title deeds and details of the account associated to the project they are interested in.
“These are now all required by law and every reputable developer should be able to supply you these very easily,” he says.
In addition to the benefits of a well regulated industry, McLoughlin says Indian buyers are being attracted by taxation considerations as no capital gains tax is levied on either the property or any rental returns generated.
