Dubaiis globally acknowledged in various economic and social realms, and it is a prime contributor towards UAE’s efforts to diversify its economy. In order to reduce its dependency on income from oil and gas, the UAE government has been increasing its efforts to boost various sectors of its non-oil economy, withreal estate being prominent amongst them.
Dubai has been a prime destination for real estate investment for several years now. Particularly owing to its thriving economy, infrastructure developmentand tourism industry, the city has seen a significant increase in property prices, rental yields and property transactions in recent years, making it an attractive market for investors from around the world. Today, the world is very well aware of all the accomplishments and regulations governing Dubai's real estate market. However, the history and evolution of Dubai's real estate market, which underwent ground-breaking choices and policies, is still unknown to many.
We can say that the Dubai real estate market was officially launched in 2002, when His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, established freehold rights for non-residents to buy property in Dubai. Later on, Dubai's property market witnessed significant private investor investment leading to the development of iconic real estate projects, including The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, Emirates Living, Jumeirahand Downtown Dubai.
Following the success of the real estate projects, Dubai has gained the position of a significant residential, commercial and tourist destination globally and it has experienced considerable inflows of foreign capital. According to the Dubai Statistical Center, 1,010,751 people were living in Dubai at the time in 2002, and 75% of them were foreigners or expatriates. When Dubai's real estate sector expanded in 2007, the government established Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), bringing with it several rules and guidelines to speed up land or property transactions and ownership registration. The increase in real estate registration costs and the mortgage cap regulation are two significant regulatory innovations that have aided the market in minimizing price volatility.
In the past decade, Dubai's real estate industry has been witnessing a stunning rebound, especially due to the rising residential property prices and demand. Dubai is a destination of several economic, socialand entertainment activities, these factors have also made a significant contribution to attracting the global community to the property market of the city and driving its remarkable growth. One such factor was Dubai’s decision to host World Expo ‘Expo 2020 Dubai’. The event which brought together the global community to Dubai was a major driver of the emirate’s property market growth. Since Dubai was selected to host Expo 2020, efforts to welcome visitors from around the world to the emirate were started. Because of this, the real estate industry went into an overdrive, creating properties to accommodate the anticipatedinflux of visiting tourists who could turn into potential residents.
Fast forward to today, Dubai's property market is now expected to gain from the upcoming COP28 conference, which will host 140 heads of state and government, and more than 80,000 participants. Additionally, it is also predicted that the recently released UAE Tourism Plan 2031 will boost investment in tourism across several related businesses, including travel, aviationand hospitality. Dubai's real estate market is now continuing its upward trajectory, especially with the commendable outlook it ended 2022 with, and the double-digit gains made in December. It is evident that the uninterrupted flow of foreign investments to the Emirate's real estate market has been fuelling its bull run in January-February 2023 as well.
