The first title deeds are being issued in Dubai under ‘fractional’ property ownership, which could dramatically add to the investor base in the local real estate market. In its simplest form, fractional ownership allows multiple investors to acquire an apartment, villa or other property types, and with each of them having ownership rights through the title deeds.

Under the current rules, “A maximum of four investors can acquire property together in the emirate,” said Sameer Lakhani, Managing Director at Global Capital Partners. “The fractional ownership rules apply to existing as well as older projects as long as they are approved by RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Agency) and Dubai Land Department in meeting necessary requirements.

The developer World of Wonders (Wow) was the first off the mark, offering fractional ownership at its new project, SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences. Investments start at Dh460,000 for the units. The project is part of Downtown Dubai.

Fractional ownership is quite the path-breaker for Dubai real estate. Until now, individual investors had to buy a unit in full. There could be other investors, but only one gets to have the title deed under his/her name. (There is also the crowdfunding option, where investors groups have rights to a property, but the title deed is issued to a special purpose company rather than the individual.)

Dubai’s property market is coming off a record year, and market sources confirm that January has extended the hot streak. There is market chatter of one of Dubai’s biggest developers notching up a near Dh500 million in sales bookings in the last month alone.

The move to open up fractional ownership allows the authorities and developers to target a much wider base of buyers. For instance, a Dh2 million apartment becomes more accessible if a set of investors pitch their funds into it – and at the same time have individual ownership certificates attesting to it.