Indians spent 35,500 crore to buy houses in Dubai in 2022 - Times of India

Rich India has a new residential address: Business Bay, Dubai. With deep pockets and a desire for a luxurious lifestyle, wealthy Indians - mostly businessmen and entrepreneurs - are flying in in droves to buy homes in this trendy financial district, local real estate players say. Another favorite is Downtown Dubai, a tourist hub that is home to many shopping malls and skyscrapers, including the Burj Khalifa.

The 2022 real estate market data confirms this trend. Last year, the Dubai market earned Dh16 billion, or Rs35.5 billion, from sales to Indians, almost double the amount of about Dh9 billion in 2021. 40% of home buyers were from India, most from Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad and Punjab. The rest were Indians living in the UAE (40%) and Indians living outside the UAE (20%) in different parts of the world.

"There is also a certain percentage of senior executives with global roles who are considering buying real estate in Dubai because of its connections to the world," said the CEO of a real estate consultancy firm with operations in Dubai.

He said many wealthy Indians are moving to high-end rental apartments, abandoning mega cities back home. Dubai's rental market, which experienced a 30% decline during the Covid-19 pandemic, is now back to the levels of 2015-2016, which was the peak period for real estate in the city.

Vishal Goel, co-founder of JV Ventures, is one of them. "My office in Dubai allows me to travel freely between Hyderabad, Dubai and London," Goel says. He notes that the fintech ecosystem offered by Dubai International Financial Center is another factor attracting young Indian entrepreneurs to the city. "My wife, for example, has been able to create her own fintech company that allows her to easily operate in global markets. That's something it couldn't do as effectively in India," says Goel, whose venture fund specializes in social assets and life sciences.

While the average cost of homes bought by Indians ranges from 1.6 to 1.7 million dirhams (3.6 to 3.8 Korean rupees), the monthly rent ranges from 300,000 to 350,000 rupees.

Local real estate agents say the average rental yield in Dubai is between 4 percent and 5 percent, which is comparable to Mumbai. "This is an attraction for many white-collar workers," says another prominent real estate agent. He lists other advantages: "Dubai is safe for those with money to invest and the city has world-class social infrastructure.

Ashrat Chowdhury, Chief Strategy Officer of Damac Properties, a leading real estate group in Dubai, agrees. He says this is why Damac attracts buyers even from small towns in India, especially Punjab. "Our business from indies has grown 2.5 times in 2022," he says, adding, "What we sold in a year in 2019, we're selling now in a month." He said 15% to 20% of the total real estate sales in Dubai are from the Indian community, which is one of the two largest home buyers in the city. Other major buyers are Russians. Britons, Chinese and Pakistanis are also pro-minority international home buyers in Dubai.

The Golden Visa program - expanded in 2022 to include more workers, skilled professionals, academics and researchers - has given a further boost to Dubai's real estate growth, industry analysts say. The program is a long-term residency visa that allows foreign talent to live, work or study in the UAE while enjoying exclusive benefits. In fact, increased demand from international buyers has led to the launch of more apartment and villa projects in the city.

"My children are happy here as the schools with Indian program in Dubai are among the best in the world. The city is extremely safe. Even if you leave your cash bag in a cab, the driver will find you and return it," says entrepreneur Rahul Bhattad, who moved to Dubai from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. He says his elderly parents also fell in love with the splendor of the modern city.