Dubai targets Chinese real estate investors

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) will host a real estate exhibition in Shanghai as part of a series of events showcasing the sector worldwide. It comes as the real estate sector in the emirate struggles with a glut of new homes and comes under pressure from rising interest rates which make mortgage payments more expensive. Chinese interest in Dubai real estate has increased in recent years amid warnings that the domestic property market in China is becoming over-heated in some cities. “Our real estate market is receiving heightened interest from Chinese investors, with Dubai becoming a favorite property destination,” said Majida Ali Rashid, assistant director-general at the DLD. More shows are planned between now and the end of the year in Mumbai, Moscow and London. Dubai Land Department (DLD) last month said the value of real estate transactions in the first six months of 2018 was 111 billion dirhams ($30.2 billion) across 27,642 transactions. That reflects a 16 percent decline in the value of deals and a 22 percent drop in their overall number. As many as 45,000 new homes could hit the market this year with a similar number slated for completion in 2019. China’s property market has boome in recent years, but concerns are starting to emerge about over-heating in some cities. New-home prices in China rose at the fastest pace in 22 months in July. Dubai residential property prices and rents declined by 5 to 10 percent overall in 2017, according to data from Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the credit ratings agency. It expects the downturn in Dubai’s property market to continue until 2020.