Big commercial improvements in the city of Dubai have been
generating a lot of headlines, but now industry leaders are suggesting that
investors should be paying attention to residential real estate as well.
Some of the real estate news coming out of the UAE supports
the idea that it’s a good time to buy in Dubai, and that investors should be
looking into local real estate purchases, as well as all of the various
equities, funds and indices based on these properties.
One of the voices for Dubai real estate is Robert Welanetz, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim-Properties.
Welanetz is set to deliver a message at the Cityscape Global
Conference in Dubai this September.
Welanetz said a market rebound in late 2017 will make
Dubai real estate attractive, and that the upcoming Expo 2020 will foster job
creation and add to an upswing in real estate markets.
“Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to impact the rate of job
creation, which will positively impact both sales and retail markets in the
long term across the UAE.” Welanetz said in a statement on the upcoming
conference. “Looking around the region, we also expect countries with the
largest populations to witness growth, primarily to meet the needs of their
maturing populations … We strongly believe in the long term growth prospects of
Dubai and the UAE. Dubai’s real estate market is characterized by strong fundamentals,
making it the most preferred investment destination in the Middle East. The
slowdown provides ample opportunities to drive extra value in
investments.”
Elsewhere in the industry, an optimistic tone is in the air.
JustProperty.com has created a real estate platform in the
Middle East serving countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. With communications
features for Realtors and investors, JustProperty.com enables streamlined real
estate transactions in Dubai and elsewhere in the region.
“There are investment
opportunities even in what many are dubbing a ‘soft’ real estate market in
Dubai, especially when it comes to ‘value-investing’ options.” Alex
Nicholas, co-founder and CEO of JustProperty, told Gulf News Journal this week in an email response to interview questions about the Dubai market. “Novice
property investors ought to bear in mind what seasoned investors already know:
that investing in property often necessitates keeping your eye on the long term.”
Nicholas suggests focusing on Expo 2020 and beyond, to really
benefit from a market that’s going to slowly start to heat up.
“Short-term economic inertia are just
minor blips on the chart, especially when taking the eagle eye 10-15 year view,”
Nicholas said. “It’s in times like these that value investors adopt the buy-and-hold strategy.
They know investing
in property in Dubai remains a promising proposition, particularly when you
consider the commercial legacy of this world-class city, and more so when
prices are at their most attractive as they are now.”
JustProperty recently added Bahrain,
Jordan and Oman to its bilingual portal, as well as new
services in Egypt.
In a statement, Nicholas called the Egypt addition “a significant milestone, not
just for our strategic expansion efforts across the Middle East and North
Africa, but also for our users.”
