Dubai property market shrinks as Iranian investors quit

Buyers from Iran still represented the fifth-largest group of investors by nationality in the market, with 1,036 Iranians snapping up villas and apartments, data from the Dubai Land Department show.

 

But the investment was likely to have been higher if it were not for the impact of western sanctions against Iran, say people familiar with the property market. Iranians are facing difficulties getting approval from banks in the UAE for mortgages or to make down payments for properties, said Hossein Haghighi, an Iranian businessman living in Dubai who owns a villa in the Springs.

 

Iranians have been one of the backbones of investment in Dubai's property market for years because of their country's proximity to the emirate and traditionally close business ties. Appetite has stemmed both from the estimated 600,000 Iranian residents in the UAE and wealthy home-based Iranians.