LAHORE: Dubai received the third biggest investment in property sector from Pakistan as Pakistanis invested $379 million (1.392 billion dirhams) in the first quarter of 2015, according to data released by Dubai Land Department in April 2015.
According to media reports, Pakistanis purchased properties worth over $4.3 billion (16 billion dirhams) in 2013 and 2014 in Dubai. However, in terms of investor numbers, Pakistanis stood second with a total of 953 investors, only behind Indians with over 1,000 investors. Pakistanis also make up the second largest non-Arab nationality in the UAE.
In a January market sentiment survey by Zameen.com, a Pakistan’s property portal, a large number of respondents said they only wanted to invest in Pakistan. However, 49pc of participants who wanted to invest abroad wished to buy property in Dubai.
The figures divulged by Bayut.com, a Dubai-based property portal, registered a quarter-on-quarter (Q1’14 to Q1’15) hike in searches originating from Pakistan regarding buying property in Dubai. Pakistanis’ searches for buying property in Dubai went up to 87.29pc in Q1 2015 from 85.40pc in Q1 2014, suggesting an increased intent of buying rather than renting property.
