2-year property visa: Dubai experiences increased interest in Dh750,000 properties following the regulation alteration

Real estate professionals say abolishing the investment amount threshold for the two-year property visa has brought more buyers to budget-friendly areas. This comes despite the cooling trend in the market.

In Dubai, there are now no minimum investment conditions required for the two-year visa for owning property; there has been an increase in inquiries for the affordable housing sector, say real estate experts.

“We see a steady growth of inquiries on properties below Dh750,000, especially from foreign investors who want to gain residency via property ownership as well as residents buying their first home,” commented Farooq Syed, CEO of Springfield Properties.

The areas mentioned included Dubailand, Marjan, Dubai Production City, and International City, where there is continuous demand for homes that are reasonably priced due to the availability of well-developed infrastructure, facilities, and value.

In April, the Dubai government made changes to the regulations of the two-year property-related visa, abolishing the requirement of minimum property value for individuals, as well as making changes for joint ownership.

There are now no restrictions on minimum property value for single investors, as the Dh750,000 requirement has been stripped. The investor applying for the visa should have total ownership of the property. In case of joint ownership of the property among multiple individuals, each investor should own a share in the amount of not less than Dh400,000.

Communities without Visas

In line with this trend, Rohit Bachani, co-founder of Merlin Real Estate, noted that there is a definite increase in interest in studio and one-bedroom apartments in communities like Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), Jumeirah Village Triangle (JVT), Dubai South, Arjan, Dubai Silicon Oasis, International City, Dubailand, and Nshama Townsquare.

“These were invisible from a visa standpoint earlier; now, each completed and fully owned unit automatically qualifies. It is more driven by first-timers and foreign investors from India, the United Kingdom, and Southeast Asia looking for a ‘soft landing residency footprint’ prior to going for the higher-end Golden Visa,” Bachani explained.

But Bachani was cautious about how he described the context change.

“I have to be honest that this is not necessarily a price-driven event; it’s more of a sentiment and catalyst event, so while the overall market is still cooling down, this helps volume and absorption on the lower end – which is good,” he explained.

Improves market accessibility

Both executives agreed that the absence of the Dh750,000 limit for sole property owners within the two-year property investor visa, which is facilitated by the Dubai Land Department’s Taskeen programme, improves the accessibility of the market in Dubai.

“Removal of minimum investment level for sole property owners means that the buyer can be more flexible in buying a property based on his budget and future plans without having to tailor his purchasing decision based on the visa issue,” said Syed.

In this regard, Bachani explained that the effect so far was “more about confidence and availability than a sudden rise in prices.”

With close to 50,000 units forecast to be completed and handed over in Dubai by 2026, Bachani added that having more people qualify as potential buyers will assist in absorbing the extra supply.

Homes under Dh750,000 made up about one-quarter of all ready home deals in Q1, Bachani added, which means that there’s now a whole new category with access to residency, which didn’t exist before.

“This could be seen as anticipatory governance: Dubai using a policy lever countercyclically to maintain liquidity during a lull period,” Bachani said.