How Dubai is becoming more transparent to attract real estate investors | SP Investment

Dubai climbs the Global Real Estate Transparency Index after launching official residential index

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the most transparent real estate markets in the MENA region, according to the latest Global Real Estate Transparency Index from JLL.

The index is considered a useful indicator of a city’s overall ‘real estate investment health’ and comes despite continued concerns surrounding over-supply and the ongoing economic impact caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Dubai’s increasing attractiveness as an investment hub was recognised as the emirate climbed up three places to 36th.

According to the report, the most significant initiative launched in 2019, and a key contributor to Dubai’s ranking, was the creation of an official residential transaction-based index, Mo’asher, by the Dubai Land Department (DLD) in partnership with the private sector.

“Mo’asher constitutes a potentially important step forward for Dubai, as it means the establishment of a single index that is widely used by all market participants,” said Dana Salbak, head of research for JLL MENA.

Abu Dhabi also emerged as a top performer globally, reflecting positively on the overall transparency ranking and future investment outlook.

“Among the many initiatives introduced, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment signed a pledge with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a financial free zone, to embed sustainable finance policies in the UAE, contributing to the emirate’s ranking. The policies cover all forms of corporate and investment financial services which yield environmental, social, and economic benefits,” added Salbak.

The report also revealed that Saudi Arabia is demonstrating a strong commitment to reforms to expand the economy and real estate market, including rebrandeding its publicly available central database – The General Authority for Statistics – and continuing to collate more data from government agencies.

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