IREIS 2025 to shed light on foreign investment, property ownership laws

The UAE's Dhsl trillion real estate sector is fast becoming more lucrative to foreign investors due to higher return on investment, increased transparency, accountability and digitsation that is attracting larger foreign investment, private equity and institutional capital.

- Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

Regional and international experts are going to offer critical insights into the UAE’s real estate growth proposition at the International Investment Conference at the 14th edition of the International Real Estate & Investment Show (IREIS 2025) taking place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 12 to 14 September 2025.

Real estate sector has been a key driver in foreign investment into the UAE, with the majority of the 200,000 Golden Visa issued in 2024 has been in property sector. With a minimum investment of Dh2 million in properties for a Golden Visa, this translates to a potential investment of Dh400 billion in a single year. This is on top of the $45.6 billion (Dhs167.35 billion) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted by the UAE last year.

The total UAE real estate transaction value in the first quarter exceeded Dhs239 billion ($65 billion) in Q1 2025, with Dubai accounting for the majority of this value and showing significant growth, while Abu Dhabi picking up the pace in development with 14,180 transactions worth more than Dhs51.72 billion recorded in the first half of 2025. This performance picks on top of the 24.2 percent growth in transactions exceeding Dhs96.2 billion in 2024 with a greater number of new master development projects coming into the market.