DLD auction highlights growing demand for UAE properties

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) raised a total of AED 85.6 million (£14.9 million) by selling 11 properties at a recent private auction.A selection of 13 leasehold properties in Dubai were put up for sale and the DLD managed to find buyers for all but two of them, with the units fetching 11.7 per cent over their base price overall.The most expensive property at the auction was an apartment building in the Al Murraqabat area of eastern Dubai that went under the hammer for AED 39 million – AED 1 million above its base price.Humaid Omran Al Shamsi, manager of the DLD's public auction section, told Gulf News that the UAE Central Bank's recent approval of a new cap on mortgage loans has not dampened investor demand.”Most participants are investors, as opposed to end users. The emirati buyers all paid in cash. There is no effect from the mortgage rules, the prices speak for themselves,” he explained.Mr Al Shamsi added that property auctions have benefited from increasingly buoyant demand among investors over the last 12 months. He commented: “It's excellent. Now most of the property market is active and investor confidence is back.”Earlier this year, data supplied by the DLD revealed that a total of AED 58.6 billion was invested in the Dubai property market during 2012. The total number of investors reached 18,635, with foreign buyers numbering 13,573. Indians accounted for the biggest proportion of overseas buyers, making AED 9 billion worth of purchases over the year, while British citizens spent AED 5 billion on property in Dubai. The figures were hailed as further evidence of the growing recovery in the emirate's real estate sector, with the government having taken steps to stabilise the market and restore investor confidence.Looking for properties in Dubai? The First Group can point you in the right direction Taylor Scott International