Wednesday, Aug 08, 2012

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Dubai land transactions grew 21% year-on-year to total 63 billion U.A.E. dirhams ($17.2 billion) in the first half of 2012 as investors sought to capitalise on attractively priced properties in the emirate, Dubai Land Department said this week.

"The real estate market in Dubai has shown high levels of flexibility in meeting investor requirements and trends during the H1; specially the new investors looking to benefit from the price correction that emerged in the past two years," said Sultan Butti bin Mejrin, Director General at the Land Department.

He added the results reflect growth and strong performance of the emirate's real estate market and prices have increased in the past few months due to the high demand for lands, villas and flats.

The first half saw 14,652 sales transactions in Dubai worth AED30.8 billion representing 49% of the total transactions. About 3363 mortgage transactions worth AED29.6 billion were also noted, representing 47% of the total transactions.

Burj Khalifa was a key benefactor of the increased activity in the first six month period, generating about AED2.04 billion in revenue from sale of apartments.

Data shows Indians topped the list of investors in the world's tallest tower spending AED814.8 million, followed by Iranians at AED470.1 million and Britons at AED301.5 million, on apartments. Emiratis spent AED238.7 million and Pakistanis AED210.6 million.

After being hit hard by the fallout from the global financial crisis in 2008, Dubai's real estate sector is beginning to show some signs of recovery in prime locations.

Analysts at Knight Frank said in a July property report prime Dubai real estate prices rose 1.8% in the second quarter from the quarter earlier. However, Knight Frank warned the overall outlook for the world's prime markets is muted.

"We are unlikely to see significant sustained growth given the numerous downside risks facing the global economy," Kate Everett-Allen, analyst at Knight Frank, said in the report.

-By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1692; Tahani.Karrar@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-08-12 0734GMT