The UAE’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and initiatives, such as the digital nomad or remote working visa, have had a “massive” impact on Dubai’s property market, panelists at Arabian Business Money Forum agreed.
“The impact of Dubai being able to open up post-Covid had on the property market is massive, it’s what kept us alive,” said Lynette Abad Sacchetto, director, Research & Data, Property Finder.
Lynette Abad Sacchetto, director, Research & Data, Property Finder
Visa schemes such as the remote working visa or the digital nomad visa combined with the successful vaccine rollout and safe reopening of the city all brought forth a “success story that we can actually talk about. As the saying goes ‘Do or die’ and move fast, that is exactly what we did during Covid-19,” she continued.
Following a dip in demand during the lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus last year, Dubai’s short term property market saw a significant increase brought on by residents looking to move to the suburbs and by foreign investors eyeing long term opportunities in the city, panelists agreed.
“During Covid, we were and are seeing, probably every trend possible and trends that we weren’t expecting,” said Anna Skigin, CEO and founder of Frank Porter, a Dubai-based short-term property management company.
“When it comes to short term, we’re seeing quite a few investors coming to the market either currently living here, or foreign investment that’s coming because they’re looking forward to Expo. In some of these cases you can see double digit returns.” she added.
Such investors are typically from the UK, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Portugal and are interested in properties either on the Palm Jumierah or in upcoming areas in proximity to the Expo 2020 site, said Skigin.
Anna Skigin, CEO and founder of Frank Porter
Antsy from living and working in cramped conditions during the lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, many Dubai residents opted to buy villas in the city’s suburbs and put up their apartments for short-term lease.
“During Covid, people had time to think and to save money since they were not spending. The central bank also changed the loan to value so you get the first property at 20 percent so there were a lot of incentives for residents to buy property,” said Abad Sacchetto.
“Our sister company Mortgage Finder reported that 85 percent of the people who bought mortgages in 2020 were residents of the UAE, so we saw a lot of residents buy their first property and get on the property ladder,” she continued.
She added: “if you look at the last few months we’re exceeding over 4,500 transactions in the residential space so it’s very interesting the trends that we’re seeing.”
Simon Townsend, CEO, Ellington Capital
When it comes to an investment portfolio, and despite individual needs and preferences, real estate should be a main asset component, said Simon Townsend, CEO, Ellington Capital.
“Everybody has a different set of objectives, a different set of investment criteria but I think the most important thing is everybody needs somewhere to live. Real estate is always going to be one of the most important commodities that exists in our environment,” said Townsend.
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