A Good Year: GCC real estate investments on a high in 2017 Written by Arpan Ghosh

According to recent data published by the Dubai Land Department, 2017 saw AED 285 billion worth of deals in 2017. It was a strong return to form for the market, showing a significant increase over 2016’s AED 259 billion total.Dubai real estate investment for the year tallied up to AED 107 billion, with the largest percentage of investment coming from GCC investors at AED 37.28 billion, of which UAE citizens contributed AED 25.3 billion. Once again, it shows an uptick from the previous year’s AED 35 billion in investments by GCC nationals.There were conflicting outlooks on Dubai’s property landscape in 2017. Some reports foresaw steady improvement while others had a more pessimistic view, pointing to extremely generous payment plans for off-plan projects as more of a cry for help than an incentive.“Rising political tensions throughout the world, and some turmoil in the region raised a few questions about the market last year,” says Andrew Cummings, Managing Director of LuxuryProperty.com. “But in spite of it all, Dubai has witnessed a strong year of property investment and a good showing of investor confidence, especially from GCC investors.”Indian nationals made the second highest overall investment (AED 15.6 billion), followed by Saudi investors (over AED 7 billion). Investors from the UK and Pakistan rounded out the top 5, at AED 6 billion and AED 5 billion respectively.Though affordability was one of the key messages being touted by developers, the Burj Khalifa still ended up being the top choice for investors, with AED 7.36 billion worth of deals transacted. As one of the city’s most prestigious addresses, the Burj Khalifa is surrounded by other very prime investment opportunities, especially in the vibrant Opera District. Business Bay was a very close second, seeing transactions worth AED 7.11 billion. This was in large part thanks to several new launches in the area and its newfound renown as one of Dubai’s key waterfront districts due to the presence of the Dubai Canal. Third place went to another very popular waterside destination – Dubai Marina – at just under AED 7 billion.