News

Dubai Real Estate Market Boom Attracts Major Global Investment Firms

May 25, 2025

Dubai real estate market, which has seen a 70% surge in prices over the past four years, is now attracting a new wave of investors from Wall Street.

Brookfield Corp is currently exploring the development of a mixed-use residential project in the Dubai Hills area, which would mark its first investment in the residential sector in the region, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of these sources also indicated that a real estate management company owned by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte is currently exploring the city in search of investment opportunities.

Key Takeaways:

Big Money Moves In – Brookfield, Goldman Sachs & others invest heavily in Dubai real estate.
Prices Up 70% – Huge demand fuels a record property boom.
Supply Crunch – Few premium assets available for sale.
Global Buzz – Dubai now a top target for global investors.

These institutional investors are joining major firms like Goldman Sachs and Asia-based Hillhouse Investment, both of which have recently invested millions of dollars into the emirate’s real estate market.

Dubai Real Estate Market Boom

The surge in Dubai’s real estate activity has attracted these institutions. Over the past 24 months, the city has seen the sale of eight office buildings — more than were sold in the previous ten years combined. The same trend applies to hotels, with 15 transactions recorded in the past 30 months, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

Andrew Love, Head of Capital Markets and Commercial Agency at Knight Frank, said: “The past two years have been more active for us than the entire previous decade in terms of capital markets transactions.” He added, “Demand is growing from foreign buyers seeking better returns and lower taxes.”

This landscape contrasts sharply with the years following the financial crisis, when images of dozens of abandoned luxury cars at Dubai International Airport symbolized the plight of expatriates who had defaulted on their debts. That image stuck with institutional investors around the world as a reminder of the boom-and-bust nature of Dubai real estate market, in a city where most residents are foreigners.

Renewed Enthusiasm

Dubai began its recovery after the pandemic by reopening its economy earlier than many other cities, which attracted a large influx of tourists and wealthy investors. The government’s more open visa policies also helped fuel this boom.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many wealthy Russians moved part of their capital to Dubai to shield their assets from sanctions and tight capital controls in their home country. They were soon joined by a wave of newly wealthy individuals from the cryptocurrency sector and hedge fund managers, drawn by the emirate’s low-tax environment and its time zone advantage, which allows simultaneous trading across Asian, European, and American markets.

These factors collectively led to an unprecedented rise in both residential and commercial real estate prices. In the first quarter of this year — before investor sentiment was dampened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and the resulting drop in oil prices — Dubai recorded a record number of home sales exceeding $10 million in value.

Brookfield had already begun expanding its presence in Dubai real estate market in 2020, when it launched the ICD Brookfield Place project in partnership with the Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is now the largest office tower in the city.

The building quickly filled with tenants, becoming the most expensive commercial rental space in Dubai. Last year, Brookfield sold a 49% stake in the tower in a deal that valued the property at approximately $1.5 billion.

Now, the Canadian firm is considering building residential towers alongside office and retail rental spaces in the Dubai Hills area, known for its luxury villas.

Global Real Estate Investments in Dubai

Then there is Mapletree Investments Pte, a real estate management company owned by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek. According to people familiar with the matter, the company aims to invest around $2 billion in the Gulf region following the opening of its office in Abu Dhabi last year.

At Blackstone Inc., several senior executives have reportedly held preliminary discussions across the Middle East regarding potential investments in the commercial real estate sector, according to the same sources.

These institutions are joining a growing group of major investors who have already committed funds to projects in Dubai.

This past April, Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm invested $25 million in UAE-based Sunset Hospitality Group to support the expansion of its regional resort portfolio. Hillhouse, meanwhile, made its first foray into the market this month through its affiliate, Rava Partners, which acquired the property of Hartland International School in Dubai in a $100 million deal.

In neighboring Abu Dhabi, Aldar Properties — the emirate’s largest publicly listed developer — raised $500 million from Apollo Global Management Inc. in January through one of the region’s largest hybrid private placement deals. This brings Apollo’s total investment in Aldar to $1.9 billion across four deals since 2022.

In a statement announcing the most recent deal, Jamshid Ehsani, a partner at Apollo, said the investment reflects “the firm’s commitment to playing a key role as a capital provider in Abu Dhabi’s broader economic ecosystem.”

Representatives from Mapletree, Brookfield, and Blackstone declined to comment.

Shortage of Available Projects

Despite growing enthusiasm from global asset managers, insurance companies, and pension funds to invest in Dubai real estate market, a major obstacle remains: the difficulty in finding income-generating assets that are actually available for purchase.

To this day, many buildings in Dubai remain owned by wealthy Emirati families or government entities — stakeholders keen on holding onto these lucrative assets. As a result, many funds and investors are turning their focus toward investing in new development projects.

Andrew Love of Knight Frank said: “Institutional capital wants to invest here — and it has started to come in — but the issue is the lack of available supply for sale.” He added: “Most of the office buildings in the city were developed by government or semi-government entities,” pointing out that this leads to “a shortage of prime-grade buildings available for acquisition, which in turn limits the depth of the market — something institutions need to justify their entry.”

A Major Shift in Dubai

So far, this challenge hasn’t discouraged investor Martin Linder, whose firm, Global Partners Limited, has raised over $350 million for its second fund, with backing from U.S. family offices, two German pension funds, and a prominent Singaporean institution.

For Linder, this marks a major shift compared to his earlier attempts at raising funds for his first fund, when he spent six months in Boston trying to convince numerous investors about Dubai’s potential. “At the time, very few showed interest in a market they knew little about,” he said.

Nevertheless, Linder managed to raise over $200 million in that first round and used the funds to build two residential buildings along the Dubai Water Canal. As returns from the first fund began to be distributed over time, conversations with investors became easier.

He added: “We’re now getting direct calls from prominent U.S. family offices.” He continued: “They heard about us from others and are now starting to increase their allocations as well.”