The Pearl of the Middle East opens its Gates!

Dubai first opened its market to foreigners in the year 2002. The first sales of units were still transacted on the base of a 99 year lease. However, with the creation of the first artificial island, the Palm Jumeirah, foreigners were granted a contractual unrestricted freehold for the first time, based on the edict of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In 2004 an amendment was announced, which should grant foreigners to purchase property freehold in designated areas and therefore an enter into the national register. With this amendment becoming legal in 2006, the first foreigners were enlisted as proprietors of property in the national register. This concession still complies only for designated Freehold Areas.

Buying Property in Dubai

The purchase of property by expatriates in Dubai, resp. the U.A.E. is limited, thus purchase by non-GCC-citizens is only possible in the freehold areas. Purchases in other areas are reserved for U.A.E. citizens and, in some exceptional cases, for GCC citizens. The state does not give the areas of land on which the freehold properties are built to individuals, they are only sold in large plots to investors and project developers. These must present a development and usage plan in advance, which shows the buildings and their use. These developers then sell the single plots, mostly already built on, to the private owners. The sale of property is not subject to any special legal requirements for formalities, and thus a private, written sales contract is sufficient for a legally binding transaction. At present, an entry in a state register only takes place in the case of non-freehold areas. The owner is entered in the Land Register of the Land Department as owner. For the freehold areas, their own Land Register (foreigners register) is foreseen in 2005, in which the owners will be entered. At present, these owners are only noted in the registers of the major property development companies (Emaar, Al Nakheel, Jumeirah Beach Residence).