Investment main driver of GCC property market

by Joel Bowman Tuesday, 15 April 2008

More people buy property in the GCC as an investment than for any other reason, according to results from the ArabianBusiness.com Property Survey 2008.

Almost half (45.74%) of all respondents to the survey cited investment as their primary reason for purchasing property, data from the annual survey showed.

While a further 26.91% said that, although they intend to live in the property, they also view it as an investment.

Only 17% said their main reason for buying property in the GCC was to live in it, with less than one in a hundred (0.66%) indicating they intend to use their property primarily as a holiday home.

Bahrain is the Gulf state with the highest percentage of buyers looking for property as an investment.

Almost four in five (86.67%) property owners in the kingdom said that they view their purchase as either a pure investment vehicle or as both a place to live and an investment.

Kuwait is the most popular state in which to purchase property as a holiday home, according to the survey, with 14.29% of home owners saying that was their primary reason for buying in the oil-rich Gulf state.

Of those that bought real estate in the UAE market, only 16% said they intended to use it primarily as a place to live.