Dubai – Mubasher: Dubai’s property market saw investments worth AED 57 billion in the first six months of 2016, injected by 26,000 investors from 149 foreign countries, according to a statement citing the transactions report released on Saturday by the Real Estate Research and Studies Department of the Dubai Land Department (DLD).

"The Dubai real estate market has managed to maintain its robust appeal this year and is now emerging as one of the foremost property investment destinations in the world, bolstered by the decline in some regional economies and serious challenges faced by other countries around the globe,” Director General of DLD, Sultan Butti Bin Merjen, said.

“The diversity of the investor base reflects the extensive ranges of different products offered by the real estate sector in Dubai, along with the quality and trust that investors place in its national economy,” he added.

The total value of investments pumped by real estate investors increased by AED 135 billion in 2015, according to official figures.

Investments by citizens from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) amounted to AED 22 billion in the first half of 2016.

Emirati investment formed the lion's share of this figure as total transactions came to AED 14.523 billion, followed by Saudi Arabian citizens with AED 4 billion, then Kuwaiti, Qatari, Omani and Bahraini investors.

Investments pumped by Arab investors from outside GCC valued at AED 7 billion during the period, topped by Jordanian as they contributed AED 1.5 billion to the Dubai property market, followed by Egyptian and Lebanese citizens who invested a total of AED 1.37 billion and 1 billion respectively.

The total value of foreign investment in the Dubai real estate market exceeded AED 28 billion, drawn from 14,314 investments belonging to 149 nationalities.