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Additional income, UAE Golden Visa: 5 reasons why property owners in Dubai are getting younger

Industry executives say that the procedure to buy property is very simplified, quick, seamless and hassle-free

Published: Mon 22 May 2023, 6:00 AM

Updated: Tue 23 May 2023, 12:10 AM

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Mohammed Iqbal and his wife always thought about buying property here in Dubai but kept going back and forth.

When the pandemic hit, they started saving up and finally decided to take the plunge two years ago after a lot of financial planning about return on investment, forex rates and Indian rupee depreciation. “We found that it made more financial sense to buy here than in India.”

Iqbal is one of many such young people who have bought property here in Dubai. Real estate industry executives say the average age of property buyers in in the emirate has dropped.

Benjamin Stafford, chief executive officer, Inicio, said the data indicates a growing trend of younger buyers entering the property market, partially driven by the current ease of entry into the market.

“The average age of property buyers has steadily dropped from 58 years old in 2010 to 42 years old in 2022. In 2022, the 20-to-30-years-old age group increased from 10 per cent to 11.5 per cent, the 31-to-45-years-old age group increased from 54 per cent to 60.6 per cent, and the 46-to-60-years-old age group dropped from 35 per cent to 28 per cent,” he said.

Additional income

Iqbal has rented out his place and stays with his family at a place that is almost half the price of his own house.

“We stay in the middle of the city but our house is in one of the newer developments. And our kids go to high school. Hence, being in the city works for us in terms of their school, post-school activities, tuition, etc. So for now, it makes sense to rent out that place and use the money to repay the loan. Even from a lifestyle perspective, this makes more sense to us. We are hoping that we can move in there once we are more settled.”

Golden Visa

Real estate industry executives say more and more younger people are investing in property ownership as they plan to stay in the UAE for a long term. They have also been increasingly buying property after the introduction of the 10-year Golden Visas in the country.

The rich and the famous

The emirate has seen a huge influx of high net-worth individuals, or millionaires, as well in 2021 and 2022 who made their properties here in the emirate their home.

The Henley Global Citizens Report projected last year that 4,000 millionaires would migrate to the UAE in 2022 alone, the highest in the world.

Home of the stars

Moreover, there has been an influx of Bollywood celebrities, especially in the post-pandemic period, which has been the talk of the town.

Well-known celebrities and Hollywood and Bollywood superstars such as Lindsay Lohan, David Beckham and his wife Victoria, Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Shoaib Malik and his wife Saniz Mirza, Shilpa Shetty, Salman Khan and many others have either bought property or they’re in the process of buying it in Dubai and making the emirate their second home.

Easy procedures

Benjamin Stafford said the younger crowd is partially driven by the current ease of entry into the market.

Industry executives say that the procedure to buy property is very simplified, quick, seamless and hassle-free.

“I bought a property in Dubai through a broker. The process was seamless. When I reached home after completing all the formalities and signing the documents, the transaction was complete and documents had reached my email’s inbox,” said a property buyer.

“The process can’t be faster and smoother than this. I believe this is one the prime reasons that foreigners are attracted to invest here, apart from the good RoI and stability,” said the buyer.

Stafford added that Dubai has experienced an influx of younger people wanting to settle in the city in the last 12 months.

According to Global Media Insight, people aged between 25 to 54 account for over 64 per cent or 6.5 million of the UAE’s total population people aged between 15 to 24 consist of 12.4 per cent of the country’s population. In the age bracket of 25-54, the male population account for 4.77 million.

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